Desperate Times
by cleotheo
Summary: Sequel to Desperate Measures. After fighting for so long to be together Draco and Hermione finally have their perfect life, they are happily married with a beautiful baby. But an unexpected occurrence suddenly finds the couple once again fighting for their's and their family's future.
1. Chapter 1

**Christmas Eve – Malfoy Manor.**

Hermione Malfoy looked around the large front room of Malfoy Manor and sighed with relief. The celebrations for Scorpius' first birthday were nearly over and it had gone without a hitch. Initially she had been wary of her family and her friends spending the afternoon together but so far it had been successful. Hermione had insisted that Charlie Weasley and Luna Lovegood were present at the celebration because Charlie was Scorpius' godfather and the pair were her best friends.

It was only the third time that Charlie and Luna had been in the presence of her entire family, the other two being her wedding day and Scorpius' christening. On both previous occasions they hadn't actually spent any time in close proximity to her family but today was a small gathering. Apart from Hermione's family the only other people present apart from Charlie and Luna were Theo and Pansy Nott and their daughter, Jasmine.

While Hermione had spent days worrying about the potential disaster, it had never materialised. Luna seemed totally oblivious to the Death Eaters surrounding her and had spent most of her time talking to Hermione and Pansy. Charlie had also avoided most of her family by spending the afternoon with Draco and Theo, telling them about the new dragons in his sanctuary.

Charlie and Draco had become good friends over the years since the end of the war. Draco had been grateful to the redhead for not abandoning Hermione and taking the time to consider the reasons why she switched sides in the war. For his part Charlie had given the former Slytherin a chance after witnessing the love he had for Hermione, just a few minutes in the couples presence revealed how in love they were.

Lost in thought Hermione hadn't noticed anyone had approached her until a hand touched her shoulder. Spinning round she found Theo and Pansy standing behind her.

"We're off, Hermione." Theo said, smiling at his friends wife. "We have to get this one to bed." He ruffled his daughter, Jasmine's hair as she stood in front of her parents.

"Hey." The three year old protested, batting at Theo's hand. "Do we have to go Aunt 'Mione?" She pouted turning to Hermione. While Hermione normally hated her name being shortened, Jasmine couldn't pronounce her full name so she let the little girl use the a shortened version.

"Yes. It's Christmas tomorrow and little girls who don't go to bed, don't get any presents." Hermione said, scooping Jasmine up into her arms.

As Jasmine was Draco's goddaughter she saw a lot of her and Hermione had come to love her and she considered the small girl as another part of her large family. The idea of no presents seemed to work on Jasmine and she stopped protesting over leaving.

"Don't worry darling, we'll be back soon." Pansy told her daughter as Theo took her from Hermione. "See you later, Hermione." She said, turning her attention from her husband and daughter to her friend.

"Bye Pansy." Hermione hugged the raven haired witch. After promising Draco to make an effort with Hermione, Pansy had found the former Gryffindor surprisingly easy to get along with and the two women were now good friends.

After Hermione had said goodbye to the Nott's, she wandered over to where Luna was sitting. Sitting down next to the blonde Hermione followed her eye line to see what had Luna so entranced. Hermione smiled when she realised her friend was watching Charlie, the pair had just started dating after being friends for a few years. Despite the age gap and massive personality difference their relationship seemed to be going well and Hermione was thrilled that her two best friends had found happiness.

"Hi Luna. Are you having fun?" Hermione asked her friend.

"Yes, it's a good party." Luna said.

"Good. But I actually meant were you having fun ogling Charlie?" Hermione said mischievously, having an entire family of Slytherins was starting to rub off on her.

"I'm not ogling." Luna blushed. "I'm merely observing."

"Sure." Hermione laughed and after a short pause Luna joined in.

"What are you two laughing at?" Charlie asked, unexpectedly arriving at Luna's side.

"Nothing." Hermione smiled.

"We have to get going, we're going to see the twins tonight." Charlie said.

"Thank you for coming, both of you." Hermione said as Luna stood up to leave with Charlie.

"You're welcome. I wasn't going to miss my godson's first birthday." Charlie said, hugging Hermione and giving her a peck on the cheek.

"Happy Christmas, Hermione." Luna said, hugging her friend goodbye.

Hermione spent another few minutes saying goodbye to her friends and showing them to the door before returning to the front room and her family.

Hermione was unsurprised to find her son sitting on Bella's lap pulling at the witch's long hair. Despite Draco's aunt insisting she wasn't maternal and was no good with children, Scorpius loved her and the feeling was entirely mutual. Out of the whole extended family it was Bella who had the best rapport with the small boy, he would immediately behave like an angel whenever she was present.

Hermione settled down next to Draco, resting her head on his shoulder. Draco immediately wrapped an arm around his wife's waist as he continued to talk to The Dark Lord who was sitting on the other side of him. Snuggled next to Draco, Hermione watched as her family enjoyed Scorpius' birthday and Christmas Eve.

While Scorpius sat on Bella's knee playing with her hair, Narcissa was sitting next to her sister talking quietly and occasionally stroking her grandson's soft blond hair. Lucius and Severus were sitting by the fire deep in discussion while Draco and Voldemort were talking about replacing the French Minister for Magic as the current one wanted to retire.

Hermione sat next to Draco, watching her family for nearly half an hour before her husband moved to take Scorpius off his aunt.

"It's time for this little monster's bedtime." Draco said, pulling his son into his arms. Hermione smiled at the sight of her husband and son together, Draco was a great father and spent lots of time with Scorpius.

"We should be off as well." Voldemort said as he stood up. "We'll see you all tomorrow."

While Draco took Scorpius up to bed, Hermione stayed behind to say goodbye to her family. Severus also decided to leave with Voldemort and Bella. Once there was just Hermione and Draco's parents in the room, Hermione said goodnight and followed her husband up to their wing of the Manor.

Hermione headed straight to Scorpius' nursery, stopping in the doorway to the en-suite bathroom. Draco was giving Scorpius his bath, at least Hermione thought that's what was happening. It looked more like her husband and son were just splashing water around and playing. Leaving her two boys to play, Hermione turned and headed towards her and Draco's bedroom.

Heading into the bathroom, Hermione started to run a relaxing bath. Once the large tub was filled, with plenty of vanilla scented bubbles as well as steaming hot water, Hermione got into the bath. Hermione lay with her eyes shut, relaxing for a while before she heard Draco enter the room.

"Is he asleep?" Hermione asked without opening her eyes.

"Yes, I think all the excitement has worn him out." Draco replied, looking at his wife lying in the large bathtub.

Hermione murmured a response but continued to relax in her bath. She didn't open her eyes until she heard the clanking of Draco's belt buckle. Turning her head to the side, she watched as her husband started to undress.

Hermione's eyes scanned over Draco's torso, looking at the handful of scars from his two near death encounters with the Sectumsempra curse. Hermione's eyes travelled lower as Draco pulled off his trousers and underwear.

"Enjoying the view are we?" Hermione looked up at Draco to find a smug smirk plastered over his face as he noticed where Hermione's attention had been.

"It's okay, I suppose." Hermione shrugged, settling back into the water and shutting her eyes.

Draco tutted and stalked towards the bathtub, he then moved Hermione slightly so that he could climb in behind her. Settling into the warm water, Draco moved Hermione so she was settled in front of him. Hermione settled into her husband's embrace as he started to kiss her neck and shoulders.

Hermione moaned softly when Draco's hands started to wander over her body while he kept peppering her neck with soft kisses. Draco smirked into Hermione's neck when his wife moaned louder as his right hand slipped between her legs while his left played with one of her breasts. Hermione's moans of pleasure got louder as Draco's talented fingers worked between her legs, and it didn't take long before her orgasm washed over her.

Draco let Hermione recover for a few minutes before he stood up and got out of the bath, holding out his hand for Hermione he helped his wife out of the bath as well. Before Hermione had a chance to reach for a towel, Draco had picked her up and was carrying her to their bed.

"You're going to get the bed wet." Hermione said, not really caring as Draco placed her on the bed.

"We can dry it or change it." Draco said, climbing onto the bed and hovering over Hermione.

Hermione pulled Draco down on top of her, forgetting all about the wet bed as her husband made love to her.

* * *

**Christmas Eve – Boston, U.S.A.**

Nymphadora Tonks sat in the corner of a muggle café, looking around warily. It wouldn't have been her choice of place to meet but the man she was meeting had picked the place and Tonks was too eager to see him to argue with the choice of meeting place.

For the last couple of years, Tonks had secretly being investigating the magic stripping potion that Voldemort had administered to her friends. She had been doing her research as secretly as possible so that Voldemort or any of his followers didn't get wind of what she was doing. Tonks hadn't even confided in the small handful of Order members that had kept their magic, she didn't want to involve anyone until she sure there was a cure to the potion.

A year ago, Tonks had discovered the name of the wizard who had created the potion for Voldemort. She debated about going to see him but eventually decided against it, she had no idea whether he was a genuine supporter of Voldemort or he was being threatened into doing his bidding. Either way Tonks decided it was safer not to visit him.

During her research Tonks must have left a trail somewhere because two months ago a wizard called, Alexander, contacted her. He claimed to have worked with the wizard who had created the potion years ago. Tonks wrote back to him and for the past few weeks they had been corresponding. Even in the current wizarding world there were still people who were unhappy about Voldemort's victory but they were too smart to object and too afraid to go against the dark wizard. Once Tonks was convinced the man was genuine in his offer of help and really wasn't a supporter of Voldemort she asked to meet and he had suggested the time and place.

Tonks checked the time, wondering if the man was actually going to show up as he was currently ten minutes late. Tonks decided she would wait for another ten minutes before she gave in and returned home. She wasn't particularly happy about leaving Teddy on Christmas Eve anyway, he was with Fred and George and she had told the twins she was doing some last minute Christmas shopping.

Looking at the door again Tonks watched as a man entered, he immediately started to head her way. He looked to be in his sixties but there was something about him that made Tonks think he was much older.

"Mrs Lupin." The man held out his hand as he reached the table that Tonks was sitting at. "I'm Alexander."

"Hello." Tonks shook the man's hand as he sat down opposite her.

"I must say, you're a very brave woman." Alexander said. "Or a stupid one."

"I prefer brave." Tonks said, not particularly liking the man sitting opposite her.

"I suppose time will tell." Alexander said, shrugging his shoulders. "May I ask what's prompted this rebellion? You'll be in trouble if he finds out."

"I know." Tonks said. She was well aware of how much trouble she could be causing for herself. "As for the rebellion, I've never supported Voldemort."

"Even so, it's still a risky thing for you to be doing." Alexander said.

"Maybe, but it's what I need to do." Tonks explained. "Things weren't supposed to turn out like this, he wasn't supposed to win."

The man nodded, sharing Tonks' sentiments about Voldemort's victory. "I suppose we should get down to business. I'm sure you've got places to be and things to do."

"I have." Tonks nodded. "You said you could help me, can you?"

"I believe so. I was working with Miguel when he first started dabbling with the magic stripping potion. I believe I can come up with a cure."

"That's excellent." Tonks said, smiling widely. "When can you do this?"

"That's the problem." Alexander said. "I'll need a sample of blood from someone who has taken the potion."

"How am I supposed to get you that?" Tonks asked.

"That's not my problem." Alexander said. "I'll willingly help you, but I need the blood before I can start work on the antidote."

Tonks sat, thinking about how she could get the blood sample that the wizard sitting in front of her needed. She knew where every member of the Order was located in the muggle world but she hadn't planned on approaching them until she had the cure for them. She had already developed a memory spell that she was fairly certain would work and trigger the memories of their past lives.

"I'll see what I can do." Tonks said eventually. "I'll be in touch when I have news."

"Very well." Alexander said, standing up. "Good luck, I hope to hear from you soon."

Tonks said goodbye to the wizard and sat thinking for several minutes before she stood up and wrapped herself up before exiting the café into the bitter cold. Tonks had decided to head into town and pick up a couple of extra toys for Teddy before she went home, if she decided he had too much for Christmas she could save some for the following month and Teddy's third birthday.

After Tonks had finished her shopping she headed for a nearby wizarding community so she could apparate home. On her way to the wizarding community she walked through a small park in a muggle neighbourhood. Tonks was so lost in thought she failed to notice the man walking in her direction, until she walked straight into him.

"Sorry, I wasn't paying attention." Tonks said, as she barrelled head first into the man.

"It's alright." The man said, steadying Tonks as she crashed into him.

Tonks' head whipped up at the sound of the man's voice, she would recognise that voice anywhere even though the owner of it was dead. Tonks stared in shock as she looked into the bright green eyes of Harry Potter.

"Harry." Tonks exclaimed, shocked by his presence in muggle America.

"Sorry, you must have me confused with someone else." Harry said.

Tonks watched stunned, as Harry smiled at her and carried on walking past her. Tonks carried on watching Harry as he headed out of the park and into a nearby house. Tonks stood in shock for several minutes, surely she had been hallucinating. Harry was dead, but Tonks could have sworn that the man she had just bumped into was the boy who lived.

Her mind still swirling with the images of Harry living as a muggle, Tonks headed to the nearby wizarding community where she promptly apparated home to her son.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N - I've being amazed by the support this stories received with just one chapter, I'm really glad I decided to make a sequel. Thank you for the fabulous support and I hope I don't disappoint anyone with the story.**

* * *

Tonks spent the next couple of weeks mulling over what she had seen in America. The more she thought about it the more she was convinced of what she had seen, Harry was somehow alive and living as a muggle.

Tonks had nearly told Fred and George what she had seen on Christmas Eve, but just as she was about to tell them of her discovery Charlie and Luna had arrived. So far Tonks hadn't told anyone what she was doing but the last people she wanted to find out were Charlie and Luna. She tried not to have a problem with the couple but she resented the fact they seemed content and settled in their new lives. Tonks was also wary of their relationship with Hermione, she knew they both spent a lot of time with the witch who had betrayed them and her new family. The last thing Tonks wanted was for Voldemort to find out what she was doing so when Charlie and Luna arrived, she decided not to tell about her discovery as she really didn't trust her former allies any more.

A week after New Year, Tonks decided she needed to go and see for certain if the man she had bumped into was really Harry. So leaving Teddy with the twins again she headed back to Boston and to the park where she had run into Harry on Christmas Eve.

Tonks sat in the park for several hours watching the house that Harry had entered on Christmas Eve trying to decide the best way to approach things. Tonks instinctively knew that she had to keep her real motives for re-starting the war to herself. While she was convinced she could get support by claiming to want to right what went wrong when Harry was defeated she knew she would get nowhere if she admitted the real reason she wanted to destroy Voldemort and his followers was pure vengeance. Tonks just wanted to kill the people who had destroyed her life.

Tonks also knew she couldn't really say she was fighting for freedom in the wizarding world. While the muggleborn's may have had to take a test to see if they were strong enough to practise magic, once they had passed the test they were treated the same as anyone else. If she was being honest with herself, Tonks knew that the wizarding world she lived in was a lot fairer than she ever imagined it would be under Voldemort's control.

Finally ready with a plan to approach Harry, Tonks headed for what she hoped was Harry's door and knocked. Tonks nervously waited for the door to open, hoping to find Harry when it did. She wasn't disappointed as when the door opened, a man with messy black hair and bright green eyes stood looking at her.

"Hello, Harry." Tonks greeted her old friend.

Harry looked puzzled, but then a look of recognition appeared on his face. "You're the woman I bumped into on Christmas Eve."

"Yes." Tonks nodded.

"I'm terribly sorry, but I'm afraid you've mistaken me for someone else." Harry said. "I'm not called Harry my name is Dan."

"Please, just look at this picture of him." Tonks said, pulling a picture of Harry from her pocket and handed it to him. "You look exactly like him."

Harry took the picture and looked at it in shock. "You're right, your friend does look like me. But it isn't me, I'm sorry."

As Harry was looking at the photo, Tonks had removed her wand and concealed it up her sleeve. When Harry handed her the photo back she grabbed his wrist and muttered her memory spell under her breath. Harry staggered back into the house, suddenly feeling ill.

"You should sit down." Tonks said, entering the house and grabbing onto Harry's arm.

Using magic, Tonks shut the front door and shepherded Harry into the front room and sat him on the dark brown sofa. As Harry sat on the sofa, his head in his hands, Tonks hoped her spell worked and the memory she had implanted in his head would stick.

After nearly five minutes Harry looked up at Tonks and blinked repeatedly. "Tonks." He whispered, unsure of what was happening.

"Harry, you're back." Tonks said, hugging her friend.

"Not really." Harry said slowly. "The only thing I can remember clearly is the battle at Hogwarts. Things before that are fuzzy but I can't remember what happened after the battle. Where am I and how did I end up here?"

"You're in muggle America." Tonks explained. "You can only remember the battle clearly as that was the memory I placed into your head. As that memory settles in, your other memories will become clearer."

"What about the memories of after the battle?" Harry asked.

"I'm not sure, but hopefully they'll return and you can explain how you're still alive." Tonks said, eager to hear how Harry survived and ended up living as a muggle.

"Maybe I can then explain why I'm living as a muggle and have no magic." Harry said bitterly.

"I think I can help with the magic part." Tonks said. She then explained to Harry about the magic stripping potion and Alexander's offer of help.

"So he can return our magic." Harry asked hopefully.

"Yes, once he has the blood sample he can start working on the antidote." Tonks said.

"I'll give you the blood sample and then we can get started making plans." Harry said.

"Harry, we have to take this slowly." Tonks said cautiously. "No-one must find out what we're doing until it's too late."

"How do we do that?" Harry asked.

"You have to stay living as a muggle until the time is right." Tonks explained. "Voldemort might keep a regular check on people and we don't want to alert him to what we're doing."

"I suppose you're right." Harry sighed. He could see Tonks point but wasn't happy about having to continue the charade of living as a muggle. "I'm just eager to regain my magic and my life. It's time he paid for what he's done to us."

Tonks smiled at Harry's attitude and his thirst for vengeance. She had deliberately chosen the memory of the battle as she was hoping it would provoke the fiercest reaction in people. Directly after the battle at Hogwarts all the prisoners, bar Luna and Charlie, were devastated and angry at the events that had occurred. But in the week between the battle and Voldemort's offer, Tonks had been dismayed to find that some people's attitudes were softening towards Hermione and the dark side. Tonks knew that some of the Order who had taken the potion had actually come to understand Hermione's betrayal and didn't really hold a grudge against the devious brunette.

Tonks had decided the memory of the battle was the best way to get the support of everyone as the only thing they would be able to remember clearly was the anger and betrayal they felt that night. If people's full memories returned after they had joined the newly reformed Order, Tonks hoped they would either be convinced by then they were doing the right thing or they would realise they couldn't go back to their muggle lives and continue with the fight.

"He will pay, don't worry." Tonks said with a smile. "And so will everyone who sides with him, including Hermione." She added, testing Harry's reaction to Hermione.

"Good. That bitch deserves to pay for what she did." Harry said, anger very evident in his voice. "Let's get this sample and we can start making plans."

Tonks took a blood sample from Harry as the pair discussed the best way of re-forming the Order. They decided that Tonks would approach the members who still had their magic first to find out if anyone was willing to join them, then they would set out to return the memories of everyone living as a muggle and give them the same opportunity.

"Do you think many people will join us, it's been three years." Harry said, wondering if people were settled in their new lives.

"I think most of them will. Especially when they realise you're alive." Tonks said. She was reluctant to tell Harry that she had no intention of telling Charlie and Luna about their plans.

"Keep in touch, Tonks." Harry said as the witch prepared to leave. "I want to know of every development."

"Don't worry, I'll keep you informed." Tonks said. "In fact, I might even need you to help persuade people to re-join the Order."

"Just let me know when and I'll be there." Harry said.

Tonks gave Harry a final hug before she left the house with his blood sample and a promise to keep him updated. Once Tonks had left, Harry returned to his front room his mind whirring over what had just happened. All he could think of was the memory of the battle and the hurt of the betrayal by Hermione. Harry had no solid memories of the brunette witch but the memory of her turning on him proved that he had cared about her deeply.

Sitting on his sofa all Harry could think about was getting revenge, not just on Voldemort but on Hermione. The witch had betrayed everyone and caused the deaths of numerous people, all for a man who Harry could only feel hate for.

* * *

Across the Atlantic, totally oblivious as to what was happening with her former best friend, Hermione sat in her Potions classroom with a small group of third year muggleborn students. Instead of being head of one of the four houses, Hermione was the muggleborn tutor. She regularly met with the muggleborn students to make sure they were coping with their workload and living up to the high expectations placed upon them.

Voldemort had been true to his word and he had let Hermione develop a test for a muggleborn's potential magical ability, which had then been implemented around the wizarding world. Once they were at Hogwarts it was Hermione's job to ensure they fulfilled their potential. Hermione loved that tutorial side of her job and the muggleborn students were often some of the brightest students in their respective years.

One concern Hermione had originally had was that the other students would resent the presence of muggleborn's and make their lives difficult. While this was definitely a problem for the first few months it stopped once Severus had Voldemort come into the school and give a lecture to the students about muggleborn's. Voldemort had made it clear that only the best muggleborn's were eligible for a magical education and that they thoroughly deserved their place in the school. He had also used Hermione as an example of how talented muggleborn's could be and as everyone was aware of how close the newest Professor was to The Dark Lord they didn't dare argue. Within a few weeks of Voldemort's visit the muggleborn's were being treated no different to anyone else and while there was still a few students and teachers who weren't happy with the situation they stayed quiet and the majority of people at Hogwarts co-existed harmoniously.

"Everything looks to be going well." Hermione told the five students who were sitting in her classroom. "Is anyone having any problems?"

Everyone shook their heads and carried on with their homework while Hermione continued to check their work in the rest of the subjects. Hermione was just checking out the Herbology grades when the door to her classroom opened and Draco appeared in the doorway.

"Sorry, I thought you'd be finished." Draco said as he entered the room.

"We're nearly done." Hermione told her husband, wondering what he was doing at the school.

"I'll wait in your office." Draco said, walking through the room towards her office that was connected to her classroom.

Hermione watched as a couple of the girls in the class followed Draco's every move with their eyes, giggling together like the teenagers they were as they unashamedly checked her husband out. Hermione smiled at the sight and got back to her work, eager to finish so she could find out why Draco had unexpectedly appeared at the school.

Unlike most of the other Professors, Hermione didn't sleep at the school. She returned home to the Manor and her family every night after work. That had been one of her stipulations for working at Hogwarts, while she would willingly spend her days at the castle she was unprepared to leave Draco for so long on a night. She had spent years only seeing Draco for a few hours here and there and had no intention of staying away from him for any longer than she had to.

"I think that's it for today." Hermione announced as she finished her work. "Everyone's doing great."

Hermione dismissed her students so they gathered their things and left her classroom chatting amongst themselves. Standing up, Hermione started clearing up the paper on her desk and organising them into order. As she was tidying her desk she heard Draco come out of her office and before she could turn around he was standing right behind her, pinning her against the desk.

"Finally. I thought they'd never leave." Draco said into Hermione's ear.

"What are you doing here?" Hermione questioned as she continued to tidy her desk.

"I thought I'd come and take you to dinner since I've barely seen you these last couple of weeks." Draco said. Since Christmas he had spent a lot of time with Voldemort in France, sorting out the role of the French Minister of Magic.

"And you couldn't have just waited until I returned home?" Hermione asked, wondering what the real motivation behind Draco's sudden visit was.

"Yes, but then you would have gotten distracted by Scorpius." Draco said, kissing the side of Hermione's neck.

Hermione smiled to herself as she realised exactly why Draco had cornered her in the classroom instead of waiting for her to return home. "So you thought you'd come and get distracted in my classroom instead." She said, tilting her head slightly to give Draco better access to her neck.

"I wouldn't dream of it." Draco said as his hands started working their way under Hermione's Blouse and up her skirt.

"Good, because it's not going to happen." Hermione said, as she stood up straight and turned round to face Draco.

"Why?" Draco pouted, moving forward slightly so Hermione was trapped between him and her desk. As he was speaking Draco's hand had travelled under Hermione's skirt and towards her lacy knickers.

"Because someone might walk in." Hermione said, trying hard not to give in and allow Draco to do as he wanted and take her on her desk.

"That's never bothered you before." Draco said, placing soft kisses on Hermione's neck as he started to unbutton her blouse. "Not when we were in school or since you started working here."

"That was something I could have gone my whole life without knowing." A voice from the doorway said, sounding slightly disturbed.

Hermione and Draco both turned to find Severus standing in the doorway to Hermione's classroom. Hermione blushed and started to straighten her clothes while Draco merely smirked at his godfather.

"That's what happens when you sneak about, you find out things you'd rather not have known." Draco told Severus with a smirk.

"I wasn't sneaking." Severus said. "I knocked but apparently you two were too distracted to hear me."

"Look on the bright side, Severus. At least you didn't walk in ten minutes later." Draco said evilly causing his godfather to look uncomfortable.

"Draco." Hermione exclaimed embarrassed as she hit her husband on the arm.

"Damn it woman, that hurts." Draco said, rubbing his arm.

"I'll just drop off these worksheets and be off." Severus said, placing a pile of paper on the nearest desk and fleeing from the room before his godson could embarrass him further.

"This is so embarrassing." Hermione said.

"Why? I'm pretty sure he already knows we have sex." Draco said casually.

"Yes, but he doesn't need details." Hermione tutted. "How am I ever going to face him tomorrow."

"You can worry about that later, for now let's go and get something to eat." Draco said, heading towards Hermione's office and her fireplace.

Hermione shook her head at her husband's lack of embarrassment and followed him into her office. "I'm not exactly dressed for dinner." She said to Draco.

"It doesn't matter, I was planning on going to the island." Draco said. "Mother and Father have Scorpius all night so I thought we could spend the entire night together."

"That sounds good." Hermione said, trying to remember the last time her and Draco spent the entire night alone.

"Come on then." Draco said, heading to the fireplace. Hermione followed him and together they flooed to their island for some time spent together as a couple.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N - Sorry for the longer than usual wait between updates but I got totally distracted with a one shot I'm writing and my new long story. Hopefully I can get some more of this written soon so I can keep updating quickly.**

* * *

Hermione walked along Diagon Alley with Luna looking in various windows as she passed by the shops. She was also listening to Luna fret about what to buy for Teddy's birthday. The young boy was turning three the next day and Tonks was throwing a party at her house which Charlie and Luna were attending.

"How about something Quidditch related." Hermione suggested. "From what I've seen of wizards, it doesn't matter how old they are, give them something related to Quidditch and they're thrilled."

"That's a great idea." Luna smiled at her friend. "Come on there's a shop along here somewhere that sells Quidditch things."

Luna dragged Hermione down Diagon Alley and into the Quidditch store that happened to be jam packed with people.

"I just don't get it." Hermione exclaimed, looking around the packed store. "What is the big fascination with Quidditch, it's a ridiculous sport."

"I'm not sure." Luna said, as she examined various team shirts. "But it is fairly exciting to watch."

Hermione snorted and turned around, in her opinion the entire game was far too dangerous and not at all exciting. Whenever Hermione had watched the game at school she had spent the entire time worrying about Harry and then Draco once they got together. Even now she didn't get the fuss about the game, despite Draco dragging her along to a couple of match's when Theo or Charlie were unavailable to attend with him.

"Aren't these cute." Luna cooed to Hermione, holding up baby versions of Quidditch tops in various team colours.

"I suppose." Hermione shrugged. "Scorpius has a few and they are pretty cute on him."

"I wonder what team to get for Teddy." Luna mused.

"I don't know." Hermione replied shortly. She had never met Tonks' son and knew the chances were she never would, as Tonks still resented her for switching sides in the war.

"Sorry." Luna said, realising how insensitive she was possibly being by talking about someone that Hermione didn't know.

"It's alright." Hermione said, attempting to smile at Luna. It actually still hurt Hermione that Tonks was still so against her but she had accepted that Charlie and Luna were the only people from the Order she would ever have as friends.

While Luna debated over which team jersey to buy for Teddy, Hermione wandered around the store eventually coming to stop in front of the book display. There were several shelves full of books related to Quidditch and Hermione browsed through them even though she had no interest in the game. She found a thick book chronicling the history of The Tutshill Tornadoes, Draco's favourite team, and decided to buy it for her husband.

At the checkout Hermione joined up with Luna who was also joining the queue. Luna seemed to be carrying a couple of tops and a few toys as well.

"Did you find one?" Hermione asked her friend.

"Yes, I got this one." Luna said, holding up a small Appleby Arrows jersey.

"What's with the rest of the stuff?" Hermione asked, eying up Luna's full arms.

"I also bought a few extra toys for Teddy." Luna said. Hermione wasn't surprised that the blonde witch had bought multiple presents for Teddy as she knew from her experiences with Scorpius that Luna was extremely generous.

"What's with the other jersey?" Hermione asked, pointing to an adults Falmouth Falcon's Jersey.

"It's for Charlie, he supports them." Luna said.

"Are you sure it'll fit, it looks a bit small for Charlie?" Hermione questioned, Charlie was quite muscly and the top in Luna's arms didn't look very big.

"It's not for him to wear." Luna said blushing bright red.

Hermione's eyes widened slightly at Luna's response and she decided it was better for both of them to drop the subject before they both became too embarrassed to talk to each other. If Pansy were around she would have teased Luna mercifully and the conversation would have taken a distinctly racy tone for the rest of the afternoon as the former Slytherin wasn't opposed to regaling Hermione and Luna with tales of her sex life. The raven haired witch was also pretty good at wheedling information out of the other two women regarding their own love lives and Hermione had often found herself revealing more than she intended about her and Draco.

Luckily for Hermione Pansy wasn't with them and they were soon served before too much awkwardness built up between the pair of them. Conversation drifted back to safe subjects as the two women emerged back on the cold streets of Diagon Alley a few minutes later.

"Is there anywhere else you need to go?" Hermione asked Luna once they were walking along again.

"I don't think so. I have Teddy's present for the party tomorrow and that was the main thing I wanted." Luna responded. "How about you?" She asked Hermione.

"I don't think so. I've picked up some new clothes for Scorpius and the other couple of bits I wanted." Hermione said, trying to decide if she had forgotten anything.

"Should we go and get a drink then and get out of the cold." Luna suggested.

Hermione agreed and the two women headed into a nearby café where they spent the next few hours talking happily together.

* * *

Tonks spent the morning of the party, making sure the house was tidy and worrying about the best way to approach her friends about re-joining the Order. By the time the first guests arrived Tonks had settled on a plan, she would have a quiet word with everyone and ask them to stay on after Charlie and Luna had left. The couple had already informed her that they could only stay a few hours before they left to have dinner with Luna's father.

Once the party was in full swing, Tonks started making the rounds with her friends. Under the pretence of thanking them for their gifts for Teddy, she quietly asked if they would all stay until later. A few people asked why but she told them all would be revealed later, she also told people not to mention it to anyone else so that Charlie and Luna didn't hear about what she was doing.

Once everyone had been asked to stay, Tonks made sure that Teddy had a great birthday surrounded by all the people who loved him. Fred and George helped the three year old open his presents, the twins often looked after the young boy and Teddy adored the troublesome duo. After the presents were opened, Tonks brought out a large birthday cake for her son.

"Well I suppose it's time for this little one to have a bath and have a nap." Tonks said once all the cake was gone and the party had been going for a few hours.

"We'll do it." Fred said, picking Teddy up in his arms. George followed his brother and Teddy out of the room and up the stairs.

"We better be off, Xeno's expecting us." Charlie said, helping Luna up from her chair. "It was a lovely party, Tonks."

"Thank you." Tonks smiled. "And thank you for Teddy's presents."

"You're welcome." Luna smiled, she didn't think it was wise to tell the witch that Hermione had been the one to suggest Quidditch related presents for Teddy.

Once Luna and Charlie had left Tonks turned to the assembled group of adults in her front room.

"As I'm sure you've all noticed, I've got something I want to discuss." Tonks said. "If you don't mind, I'll check Teddy and then we can all talk."

When Tonks left the room, everyone began speculating on what she could wish to talk about. All sorts of theories were thrown around the room. She was dying, she was getting re-married, she was going to live as a muggle.

"Does anyone know what's going on?" George asked as him and Fred re-entered the room.

"Tonks said she had something important to discuss with everyone." Fred said. "Where's Charlie and Luna?" He asked, looking around the room.

"Gone." Seamus Finnegan replied. "Obviously Tonks didn't want them present."

"I wonder why?" Alicia Spinnet mused.

"She probably doesn't trust them. I don't. They're too friendly with Hermione and her family." Seamus said. "Sorry." He added to Fred and George when he remembered he was talking about their brother.

"It's okay." They said together.

While Fred and George loved Charlie as he was still their brother they too were uncomfortable with his close relationship to the darkest family in the wizarding world. As such their relationship wasn't as strong as it once was and the twins actually found themselves spending more time with Tonks and Teddy who they regarded as family.

The group continued to gossip about what Tonks wished to discuss for another couple of minutes until the witch in question reappeared.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, I'll get straight to the point." Tonks said as she sat down. "I want to re-form the Order of the Phoenix. I want to fight for what's right and bring about Voldemort's downfall. If you don't want to join me I'll understand but I will ask you to leave before I reveal more about my plans, I don't want to put you in any danger if you don't plan on helping with the fight."

Tonks waited and hoped that the group would all agree to join her. She knew that the group hadn't kept their magic because they had given in to Voldemort and believed in what he stood for, they had just been to attached to their magic to sacrifice it completely. After the end of the war it had been Tonks who had insisted the group stay in contact and since then she had subtly been reminding them of everyone who had sacrificed their magic, were locked in Azkaban or had died during the war. She regularly spoke of people who were no longer in their lives to make sure when the time came for her to reveal her plans the group would be supportive of her idea.

The group looked at each other before Hannah Abbott spoke. "I think we'd all be willing to join you, but there's only a small number of us and without Harry he can't be defeated." The rest of the group all nodded in agreement with Hannah.

"I understand that, perhaps this will help you decide." Tonks said, she knew she would now have to play her trump card. "You can come out now." She called loudly in the direction of the stairs.

The group all looked in the direction of the stairs as they heard footsteps heading their way. Pandemonium reined as the figure came into view and the group realised they were looking at Harry Potter. Tonks had just been to see Harry and had apparated him back to her house so he could be a part of the discussions.

"Hi, guys." Harry said to the stunned group. Everyone spoke at once, throwing questions at Harry. "Hold it, why doesn't Tonks explain first and then I'll try to answer any questions you might have."

Everyone agreed and they settled back down and turned to Tonks waiting for an explanation.

"I'll start at the beginning." Tonks said. "You all know I only signed the contract because I was pregnant with Teddy. From the moment I returned home I began researching the potion that Voldemort had given the rest of the group. Last year I found out who made the potion but I decided it was too risky to go and see him so I continued my research without seeing him. Three months ago a wizard contacted me claiming he could help with an antidote for the potion, I went to meet him on Christmas Eve and he told me how he could help."

"You can return people's magic." Cho Chang exclaimed, shocked by the revelation.

"Yes, he's currently working on the antidote now." Tonks said. "After the meeting I accidently bumped into Harry who had no memory of me or even himself."

"But, he knows who he is now." Michael Corner said, looking to where Harry was sitting next to Tonks.

"Yes, now I do. Tonks cast a spell on me and returned my memory of the battle, my other memories are slowly returning as well." Harry explained.

"How are you alive?" Seamus said to his friend. "We all saw you die."

"I can't explain that, my memories of after the battle haven't returned yet." Harry said. "But what I do know is that Voldemort stripped me of my magic, removed my memory and forced me to live as a muggle. When I get my magic back I intend to fight him and this time I plan on winning."

"What about Hermione?" Fred asked, wondering how Harry felt about his best friend.

"What about her? She betrayed us, she's one of them now." Harry said bitterly, the memories of Hermione were proving the hardest for Harry as he could still clearly feel her betrayal. "She's the enemy now."

"So, is everyone in?" Tonks asked. As she suspected the entire group nodded and declared their intention to re-join the fight against Voldemort and his followers. "This has to stay secret, everyone is to carry on as normal and Charlie and Luna mustn't find out."

"Why not?" Harry asked. "Surely they'll want to fight for freedom as much as we do."

"Both Charlie and Luna are friends with Hermione and her family." Hannah explained. "Charlie's even godfather to Hermione's son."

Harry looked totally shocked that members of the Order had carried on being friends with Hermione after she had betrayed them all and helped Voldemort win the war.

"What about you, Hannah?" Terry Boot asked. "You work with Hermione, can we trust you not to say anything."

"Of course you can. I took the job because I need to work and it paid well, I have very little to do with Hermione." Hannah said outraged. "Besides I could come in useful working at Hogwarts."

"You work at Hogwarts?" Harry asked and Hannah nodded in response. "That could be very useful."

"So what are our plans?" Seamus asked.

"First we wait until the antidote is ready and then we test it on Harry." Tonks explained. "If it works then we start to return the memories and magic of everyone who has been forced to live as a muggle. Once that is done we break into Azkaban and rescue the older members of the Order, then we wage war on Voldemort and his Death Eaters."

"You plan on breaking into Azkaban?" Alicia questioned.

"Yes, if we're going to win we need everybody. I've been working on a plan but we'll discuss it nearer the time." Tonks said. "For now everyone should return to their lives and act as if nothing has changed. I'll let everyone know when the antidote is ready."

At Tonks' dismissal everyone started to get up and leave. Before they went they all gave Harry a hug, barely able to believe he was alive and standing next to them.

"Thanks for coming, Harry. You made all the difference." Tonks said once they were alone.

"It's fine. It was good seeing everyone and making plans." Harry said. "I better be getting back though, I don't want anyone to notice I'm missing."

Tonks nodded and quickly apparated Harry back to his flat before returning home and heading into Teddy's room to check on her son. She knew they would have to leave soon, for as soon as Voldemort realised what was happening he would come after them all. As she headed for bed, Tonks decided she needed to start looking for a new house to serve as Order Headquarters and somewhere for everyone to live once they had gone public with the re-forming of the Order.


	4. Chapter 4

When Hermione woke up and rolled over she was pleasantly surprised to see that Draco was also in bed beside her. Since their night on the island nearly three weeks ago, Hermione had barely seen her husband. The crisis in France over the job of Minister had escalated and Draco and Voldemort spent most of their time trying to find a suitable replacement. As such, there were nights when Draco arrived home hours after Hermione went to bed and often left before she woke up, a note on the pillow the only evidence that he had ever been in their room. The night before had been one of those times when he wasn't home when she had finally turned out the light at nearly one in the morning.

Hermione watched Draco sleeping for several minutes, itching to touch her husband but deciding not to as she didn't want to wake him up. Hermione eventually decided she should get up so she sat up and pulled the blankets back preparing to leave the warmth of the bed.

"Don't go." Draco said, stopping Hermione as she was about to swing her legs out of the bed.

Hermione turned back to see that Draco was watching her with sleep ridden eyes. "How long have you been awake?" Hermione asked her husband.

"Not long." Draco said, stifling a yawn. "But you seemed to be enjoying yourself watching me so I didn't disturb you."

Hermione tutted at Draco but she straightened the blanket and settled back down next to her husband. Once Hermione was lying back down, Draco pulled her against him and shutting his eyes his started to drift off back to sleep with Hermione wrapped in his arms. Hermione herself was just drifting back to sleep when the sound of Scorpius crying sounded over the baby monitor.

Untangling herself from Draco's arms, Hermione stumbled out of bed and headed next door to the nursery. A few minutes later she returned to their bedroom with Scorpius wriggling about in her arms. By this point Draco was awake enough to reach out for his son once Hermione was near the bed.

"Dada." Scorpius cried, when he spotted Draco. Scorpius had just begun to talk and his first word was Dada, Hermione was convinced that Draco had been coaching their son so he would say his name first.

"Hey, little monster." Draco said, as he took Scorpius off Hermione. "What do you think of spending the day in bed with me and mummy?" Scorpius gurgled happily at Draco and reached out with his chubby hands to pull at his dishevelled blond hair.

"As nice as that sounds, it's not going to happen." Hermione told her husband as she settled back down next to him.

"Why not?" Draco asked. "We've finally finished in France and I can spend the entire weekend with my family."

"That's great." Hermione said, pleased that Draco would be around more. "But I've already told Pansy we'd have Jasmine for the weekend so her and Theo can spend some time alone."

"All weekend?" Draco asked, as he bounced Scorpius on his knee making the little boy giggle loudly.

"Yes. They're dropping her off at ten and picking her up tomorrow afternoon." Hermione said. "We can still spend the weekend together only we'll have Jasmine as well."

"It's a good job we like her, isn't it." Draco said to Scorpius, as he pulled faces at his son. "Did you have anything planned?" Draco asked his wife, knowing she liked nothing better than to organise things.

"I said we could go and visit Charlie at the Dragon Sanctuary, he's got a couple of new born dragons and a couple of eggs waiting to hatch." Hermione said.

"Great, fire breathing monsters. Just the place for kids." Draco said sarcastically.

"You know that both Jasmine and Scorpius love the dragons and that it's perfectly safe." Hermione said, getting off the bed and walking towards the wardrobe.

"Just don't blame me if Scorpius wants a pet dragon when's he's older." Draco called after Hermione as she entered the large walk in wardrobe.

Hermione came back out of the wardrobe and rolled her eyes at Draco before she headed into the bathroom for a shower. While Hermione was showering Draco stayed on the bed playing with Scorpius, and when Hermione emerged from the bathroom he handed Scorpius to his wife and headed for his own shower.

* * *

By mid-afternoon, the time they arrived at the Dragon Sanctuary, Draco was just as eager as Jasmine and Scorpius to see the dragons. Growing up Draco had loved reading about the mythical creatures and in the past few years he had enjoyed visiting Charlie and the Sanctuary.

As soon as they arrived at the Sanctuary they went straight to the main building which housed Charlie's office. Charlie was just finishing up some paperwork but he quickly finished once Hermione, Draco and the kids entered.

"Hi, I'll just put this file away and then I'll take you to see the baby dragons." Charlie said as he stood up from his desk.

"How many babies do you have?" Draco asked.

"Two, but I'm expecting one of the eggs to hatch this afternoon." Charlie said, as he finished tidying up.

"What sort of Dragons are they?" Hermione asked as she lifted Scorpius out of his pram. She had decided it would be easier to carry him around the Sanctuary rather than push him in his pram.

"Ones a Portuguese Long-Snout and the other's a Common Welsh Green." Charlie said. "The two eggs are an Antipodean Opaleye and a Catalonian Fireball. It's the Fireball, I'm expecting to hatch today."

Before they set off Draco took Scorpius off Hermione as it was easier for him to carry their son around all afternoon. While Draco carried Scorpius Hermione made sure that Jasmine had a tight hold of her hand before Charlie led them to the baby centre where the small dragons were kept.

Walking through the pathways in the Sanctuary, you could occasionally see dragons in the distance while you could always hear the loud noises they made. As Draco and Charlie walked ahead, deep in discussion, Hermione kept pointing out the dragons in the distance for Jasmine. By the time they reached the baby centre, Jasmine was very excited and eager to see some dragons.

Entering the large white building, they found themselves in a large room with several doors leading off from all directions. Hermione noticed that two of the doors had plaques on to inform people of which Dragon was residing in the room. Charlie headed for the door leading to the Common Welsh Green's enclosure first. Punching in a security code the door swung open and Charlie led them into a smaller room which had a large glass wall separating the dragon's enclosure from the rest of the room.

"Where's the dragon?" Jasmine asked, letting go of Hermione's hand pressing her small face against the glass as she looked for the baby dragon.

Charlie squatted down beside Jasmine and searched the room before he answered. "He's not in here. Can you see that small door over there." Charlie said to Jasmine, pointing to a door on the other side of the dragon's enclosure. "That leads to outside, it's probably playing out there."

"Can we go and see it?" Jasmine asked, eager to see the dragon.

"Sure, come on." Charlie took Jasmine's hand and led her through a nearby door.

Draco and Hermione followed Charlie and Jasmine outside and found themselves standing looking at a large outside enclosure completely surrounded by protective glass. Charlie was busy explaining to Jasmine how the baby dragons were kept in the small enclosures until they were old enough to join the other dragons in the Sanctuary.

"Look, there it is." Jasmine shouted, jumping up and down with excitement as she spotted a small green dragon. "Uncle Draco, Aunt 'Mione, look."

Draco pointed out the dragon to Scorpius as Hermione laughed quietly at Jasmine's excitement. While Draco and Jasmine were quite happily watching the dragon Hermione thanked Charlie again for allowing them to come and visit.

"You know you can come and visit anytime." Charlie said to Hermione. "Besides it's great to see the kids having fun."

"Yeah, all three of them." Hermione said, including Draco as he looked to be having as much fun as Jasmine.

"Let's go and see the Long-Snout." Charlie said, leading everyone back into the main part of the baby centre.

Unlike the Common Welsh Green who had playing in the outside enclosure, the Portuguese Long-Snout was curled up asleep in the indoor part of his enclosure.

"This one's green as well." Jasmine said, pointing at the sleeping dragon. "Are all dragon's green?" She asked Charlie.

"No, dragon's come in different colours but these two both happen to be green." Charlie said. "Do you want to come and see if my new dragon had hatched yet?" He asked Jasmine who squealed with delight.

Hermione took hold of Jasmine's hand again as Charlie led them out of the baby centre and into a nearby building where the dragon's eggs were looked after until they hatched. Charlie led them into another room which had a large glass wall dividing the room into two, the half they were in was bare but the other half had two roaring fires with eggs sitting nestled atop of the flames.

"Stay here and I'll go and see if the egg is nearly ready to hatch." Charlie said before he exited through a side door only to reappear a few second later on the other side of the glass screen.

Jasmine watched with excitement as Charlie donned protective gloves and started to check on one of the eggs. Charlie nodded to Hermione to let her know the dragon was ready to hatch. Hermione moved closer to the glass with Jasmine as Charlie brought the egg over to a table what was positioned right next to the glass partition.

"Watch, Jasmine." Hermione told the small girl. "A baby dragon will be coming out of the egg in a minute."

"Will it be green?" Jasmine asked, her eyes focused on the egg that was lying on the other side of the glass.

"No." Draco said, coming to stand beside his goddaughter. "Fireballs are usually red."

"Look, the egg's breaking." Hermione said, pointing to where the egg had started to break apart.

Everyone watched as the egg started to crack some more and small claws started to appear for the shell. Within a couple of minutes small wings had also appeared and with one last shudder the dragon broke free of the egg and sat on the table.

"Wow." Jasmine said, enthralled by the tiny creature. "Can I stroke it?"

"No, honey. It may be little but it can still be dangerous." Hermione said, just as the dragon released a small trail of fire from its mouth.

Jasmine watched the tiny red dragon for several more minutes while Charlie checked it over making sure it was healthy. When Charlie was satisfied it was healthy he put the dragon into a waiting crate and returned to the room where Draco, Hermione and Jasmine had been watching him.

"We should go, Charlie needs to get the dragon into its new home." Draco said, as Hermione once again held onto Jasmine's hand.

"Thank Charlie, for letting you see the dragon's." Hermione told Jasmine.

"Thank you, Charlie." Jasmine said, smiling widely at the redhead. "Can I come and see the dragons again?"

"Of course you can." Charlie said with a smile.

While Jasmine was planning her next visit to the Sanctuary, Hermione and Draco said goodbye to Charlie and headed back to the main building to retrieve Scorpius' pram. While Draco and Hermione headed back to the main building, Charlie took the new born dragon into the baby centre and started preparing its enclosure.

Once Scorpius was settled into his pram, immediately falling asleep, Hermione and Draco apparated themselves and the children back to the Manor where Jasmine spent the afternoon talking about dragons to anyone who would listen to her.

* * *

Harry awoke with a start, his heart pounding and his head filled with rapidly diminishing images. Less than a minute after waking, Harry couldn't remember a thing he had been dreaming about. He had a feeling it had to do with Hermione, but that wasn't unusual for him these days.

Ever since Tonks had given him back the memory of the battle, Harry had been focused on Hermione's betrayal. At first he only had the feelings for Hermione in the memory to prove she was important to him, but as his memories started to become clearer he had remembered exactly how much the brunette witch had actually meant to him. Now every memory he had of Hermione was tainted with her betrayal and she often haunted his dreams.

In the past two weeks since his meeting with his friends, Harry had been thinking about what was going to happen once he had regained his magic. When he first thought about the night of the final battle, he felt nothing but hate and anger towards Voldemort, his Death Eaters and to some extent Hermione. But now every time Harry seriously considered the upcoming war he felt a surprising reluctance to take part, and the thought of Hermione being hurt or killed frightened him a lot.

Harry had tried to get over his strong protective feelings towards Hermione but there was something nagging at him, telling him to leave her and her family alone. Harry found himself having to constantly remind himself that Hermione had betrayed them in the most devastating way, she had led them into a trap resulting in Ron and Ginny's deaths and his defeat. But it didn't seem to matter how many times to told himself this, there was always this little voice in his head telling him he had made peace with Hermione and he wanted her to be happy.

Deciding to get up Harry stumbled out of bed and into the shower. In the shower he repeated his morning ritual of telling himself that Hermione was the enemy now, she had abandoned the light side, and all for a man they had detested since first year of school. Ironically Harry found that he didn't actually hate Malfoy, all the memories he had of the former Slytherin were full of hate but he couldn't quite summon up that feeling in himself now. It was very much like the feelings he had for Hermione, he knew he should hate her and he knew he had hated her the night of the battle but the feelings of hate weren't present in him anymore.

Dismissing thoughts of his former friend and her husband, Harry emerged from the shower and got dressed. Once dressed, Harry headed into the kitchen to get his breakfast. While he was eating Harry wondered when he could get his magic back and stop living as a muggle, his job working in a call centre was really boring and he longed for the day he could finally walk away from the tedious work.

Harry was just finishing his coffee when he heard the familiar pop of apparition in his front room. Knowing it must be Tonks, Harry hurried in to see her hoping she had good news.

"It's time." Tonks said as soon as she saw Harry. "The Antidote's ready."


	5. Chapter 5

Harry paced the small room as they waited for Alexander to return with the potion. After Tonks had appeared in Harry's flat she had apparated them to a small house where she had introduced him to Alexander, the wizard who was helping them.

"Have you informed the others what's happening?" Harry asked as he continued to pace.

"I asked Fred and George to pass the word around, when we've finished here everyone should be gathered at my place and we can discuss what to do next." Tonks said.

"What if the antidote doesn't work?" Harry asked.

"Then I try again." Alexander said, re-entering the room. "Although I'm fairly confident that this will work."

"I hope it does." Tonks said, she was eager to begin her plans for revenge against Voldemort and the Death Eaters.

Alexander handed a small vial of potion to Harry. "Drink it all in one go." He told Harry who was examining the pale yellow liquid carefully.

Harry turned to Tonks who nodded reassuringly before he opened the vial and tipped the contents into his mouth. Harry swallowed all of the sweet tasting mixture and turned to Alexander in expectation, but before he could speak he collapsed to the floor in a heap.

"What's happening?" Tonks cried, rushing over to Harry's side.

"I think it's the potion working." Alexander said, sounding worried.

"You think? You mean you don't actually know?" Tonks said angrily. She was wondering if she had made a huge mistake in trusting the wizard who stood before her.

"No, I don't know. This is the first time I've ever used the potion." Alexander said, trying to defend himself.

"What if he dies?" Tonks asked, wondering if people would be so willing to go up against Voldemort without Harry.

"He won't." Alexander said with confidence. "The potion might not work but he won't die."

"I thought you said you were confident of the potion working?" Tonks asked, getting more annoyed with the wizard.

"I am, but there is a possibility with all new potions for failure." Alexander said, unimpressed with Tonks attitude towards him.

Before Tonks could respond, Harry made a small moaning sound from beside her. Tonks turned away from Alexander and watched Harry as he slowly came back to consciousness. Once he was awake, Tonks helped him up from the floor and onto a nearby chair.

"How are you feeling?" She asked, wondering if the potion had worked.

"Groggy." Harry said, shaking his head as he tried to regain his perspective.

"Has the potion worked?" Tonks asked Harry.

"I don't know." Harry shrugged. "And we don't have a way to find out as I no longer have a wand. I can't believe we didn't think of that."

"I did. I have a supply of wands at home, you can sort through them and pick one that best suits you." Tonks said, deciding to explain later how she acquired as many wands. "For now use mine to try a bit of magic."

Tonks handed Harry her wand and he held it for several seconds getting used to the strange bit of wood.

"Start simple." Alexander said. "If the potion worked, it's best to start simple and gradually build up your magic."

"Lumos." Harry said, causing the end of Tonks' wand to light up. Harry and Tonks both beamed brightly at the sight of the lit wand. "Nox." He said, dousing the light.

"It worked." Tonks said, before turning to Alexander. "When will Harry have all his magical ability back."

"Within twenty four hours. The potion grows stronger the longer it's in his system and by this time tomorrow he'll be back to normal." Alexander said. "Although I must tell you I discovered something when I was making the potion."

"What?" Tonks asked cautiously, hoping their wasn't going to be any major side effects for Harry.

"I originally thought that blood from someone who had taken the magic stripping potion would provide an universal cure but I was wrong." Alexander explained. "As I worked I discovered the cure was bound to the blood I had used."

"So you'll need to make a separate antidote for everyone." Harry said as he handed Tonks her wand back. He had immediately understood the problem.

"Exactly, so things will be slightly slower than you hoped."

"That's fine as long as you can do an antidote for everyone." Tonks said, mentally rejigging her plans.

"I can, just bring me a couple of samples of blood at a time and make sure they're clearly marked." Alexander said.

"I will and thank you." Tonks said, smiling at Alexander.

"Yes, thank you so much." Harry said, shaking the wizard's hand. "You have no idea how much it means to have my magic back."

"I can only imagine how awful it must have been." Alexander said to Harry.

After saying a final farewell to Alexander and Tonks promising to be in touch soon, Tonks and Harry apparated back to Tonks house.

* * *

"How and why do you have so many wands?" Harry asked as he stood in Tonks spare bedroom looking at the array of wands that was spread over the bed.

"When I started making plans to re-form the Order, I knew that there would be plenty of people without wands so I started procuring some on the black market." Tonks explained. "I would get a handful at a time and use different sellers as to not arouse suspicion. I also tried to get a wide variety of length, wood and cores so that everyone could hopefully find a new wand. Try some out and head down when you're sorted. I'll be starting the meeting."

Tonks left Harry still staring at the wands on the bed. When they had returned to Tonks house not long ago Fred and George had been in the house watching Teddy and the twins had been delighted to discover that Harry had his magic back. They had then told Tonks that they had arranged the meeting time for the Order.

Harry decided to get to work testing the wands to try and find a suitable one for himself. After nearly ten minutes he found one that felt quite good in his hand, while it didn't feel as much of a part of him as his previous wand did it was still quite nice to handle. Pocketing his new wand, Harry tidied the others away and headed down stairs to where the meeting was taking place.

By the time Harry joined the meeting, Tonks had explained the problem with the potion to the group and they were discussing the best way to progress.

"I have a list of everyone who took the potion and where they are in the muggle world." Tonks said. "I suggest we take them two at a time until, everyone has their magic and memories back."

"We have a request." Fred said, looking at George who nodded to his twin. "Bill and Fleur are still together in the muggle world and have a young daughter. We don't want them to be a part of this."

"How do you know they're still together?" Seamus asked.

"Charlie told us. Once he did, we set out to find them and have been checking they're okay ever since." George explained.

"But surely they will want to fight as well." Terry said.

"I'm sure they would, but they have a baby. Once we've won we can return their magic and memories but until then we'd prefer it if they were out of harm's way." Fred said.

"That's fine." Tonks said, understanding where the twins were coming from. "I suggest we start with Neville and Dean. I can approach both of them in the next few days."

Everyone agreed and the meeting broke up after Tonks had promised to keep everyone informed of her progress regarding the Order members. Slowly the group started to leave Tonks' house and head back to their own lives, all hoping the rest of their members would be with them soon.

When Harry left Tonks' house he apparated home where he quickly retrieved some binoculars before he left again, this time appearing in the middle of some thick woods in Wiltshire. Harry knew he was risking everything to be so close to Malfoy Manor but he had to see Hermione, he was hoping that seeing her in person would remind him of her betrayal and get rid of the caring feelings he still had for her.

Harry crept as near to the Manor as he dared before he stopped and cast a spell on his binoculars, enhancing the power of the lenses. Lifting the binoculars to his eyes Harry began to scan the Manor looking for any sign of his friend. He had only been looking for a few minutes when a movement near the top of the building caught his eye. Training the binoculars on one of the highest windows Harry watched as Hermione strode out onto a small balcony and leant against the railings.

Harry studied Hermione closely, she was wearing dark blue jeans and a purple sweater with her long, curly hair hanging loose down her back. But what struck Harry the most was that Hermione looked happy and content. Harry watched as Hermione scanned the grounds and surrounding trees for several minutes, he debated whether she was looking for him but he knew he wasn't near enough to the Manor to have triggered any wards.

Harry carried on watching Hermione, failing to make himself hate the brunette witch. When Hermione turned slightly and headed back into the room behind her Harry planned on leaving but before he had a chance to move Hermione returned to the balcony. Harry was surprised to see Hermione was holding a small child when she re-emerged from the room, while he knew Hermione had a son it was still a shock to see the baby in person.

As Harry watched Hermione cradling her baby he wondered what would happen to him if The Order succeeded in their plan to destroy Voldemort. If everything worked to plan both Draco and Hermione would either be killed or imprisoned for life. Harry also wondered if Tonks had considered what would happen to Teddy if things didn't go according to plan.

As Harry continued to watch his friend, Draco appeared behind Hermione. Harry watched as the blond man kissed his son and then kissed Hermione before saying something to her, Hermione nodded and the pair re-entered the room shutting the doors behind them.

Harry lowered his binoculars, fighting against the instincts in him that were telling him to warn Hermione about the imminent danger to her and her family. Sighing loudly as he prepared to apparate away, Harry realised he had only confused himself more by seeing Hermione in the flesh. He was now having serious doubts whether he could go through with any plan that would lead to her being hurt.

* * *

Hermione was standing on the balcony of Scorpius' room with her son when Draco suddenly appeared behind her. She could have sworn that there was someone in the woods watching her but all the wards were secure and she could see nothing in the dense trees.

"Are you coming to dinner?" Draco asked after he had given both her and their son a kiss.

Hermione nodded and followed Draco into the nursery. While Hermione settled Scorpius down for the night, Draco shut and locked the doors leading onto the balcony.

"Daisy." Hermione called, summoning a house elf. She made sure every elf in the Manor was treated politely and was unharmed as she still couldn't get Voldemort to discuss rights for the poor creatures.

"Yes, mistress Hermione." Daisy said, popping up beside Hermione. Daisy was Hermione's favourite elf, she was a lovely little thing who often wore the hats that Hermione had knitted back in school.

"We're going to dinner. Will you stay with Scorpius." Hermione said to the elf. Unless her and Draco were in their wing, Scorpius was never left in his nursery alone.

"Yes." Daisy said with a smile, looking after the baby was her favourite job.

Once Hermione and Draco were sure that Scorpius and Daisy would be okay they headed downstairs to dinner. Arriving in the dining room they weren't surprised to find that Voldemort, Bella and Severus were present. On weekends it was normal for the entire family to gather for dinner.

Hermione was quite quiet over dinner as she thought about the strange feeling she had about someone watching her earlier. No-one seemed to notice that Hermione was quieter than usual as the conversation flowed nicely between everyone else.

After dinner the family retired to the front room where the men all had a glass of firewhisky while Bella and Narcissa had another glass of wine. While Hermione told Narcissa and Bella about Jasmine and Scorpius' visit to the dragon sanctuary the previous day, Draco and Voldemort discussed their plans for the upcoming week. They were arranging to check on the Order members who were now living as muggles, Voldemort liked to keep an eye on them just in case anything suspicious happened. Draco had said many times that they were wasting their time after so many years but Voldemort insisted they remain vigilant.

Once everyone had left for the night Draco and Hermione headed back to their wing. Hermione headed straight in to check on Scorpius and to tell Daisy she could leave while Draco headed into his and Hermione's bedroom. When Hermione entered the bedroom a few minutes later Draco was already in bed waiting for his wife to join him.

After a quick wash and a change of clothing, Hermione climbed into bed with Draco.

"What was bothering you tonight?" Draco asked as Hermione curled herself up next to him.

"What makes you think something was bothering me?" Hermione asked. She was reluctant to tell Draco what had been bothering her as she didn't want to sound stupid.

"Because you're never that quiet at dinner." Draco said. "And I know you too well, it's obvious there's something on your mind."

"Fine, I'll tell you. But it's stupid." Hermione sighed, sitting up in bed. "When I was in the nursery earlier and was near the window it felt like there was someone watching me. I went outside but I couldn't see anything and the wards were all still in place."

"That's not stupid." Draco said to his wife.

"Of course it is." Hermione snorted. "Who the hell would be out the back of the Manor spying on us?"

"I suppose you're right." Draco said. "Maybe it was just an odd feeling."

"I'm sure it was." Hermione said, with a yawn. "Let's get some sleep."

Draco pulled Hermione into his arms and lay thinking as his wife drifted off to sleep. The question Hermione had asked about who would be sneaking around the Manor had triggered a memory in Draco. He could remember a time when Potter had done just that and the thought of someone being out there tonight gave him a funny feeling. Tomorrow morning after Hermione had left for work he would check the woods and he would make sure that Potter was one of the first people him and Voldemort checked on. As stupid as it sounded, Draco had a feeling that it had been Potter who was watching Hermione from the woods. The only problem was that Harry Potter was now a muggle called Dan living in America.


	6. Chapter 6

Draco wandered around the woods behind the Manor, looking for evidence that someone had been there the previous night. Once Hermione had left for work that morning, Draco had immediately headed into the woods to investigate. So far he had been looking for over half an hour and could find no evidence that there had been anyone in the woods.

Draco kept trying to tell himself that Hermione had just been imagining things but he knew his wife wasn't the type to imagine things. While he had found no evidence of anyone being in the area, Draco couldn't shake the feeling that Hermione had been right and there had been someone watching the Manor.

As Draco took one final look around the clearing he was standing in, he felt his dark mark stinging slightly. These days his mark only burned when Voldemort wanted him immediately, checking the time Draco realised he was five minutes late in meeting The Dark Lord. Cursing loudly Draco apparated back to the Manor, hopefully their work over the next couple of days would put his mind to rest about the mystery person in the woods.

Arriving in his and Hermione's bedroom at the Manor, Draco hurried down stairs to find Voldemort waiting for him in the front hall.

"Sorry." Draco said as he rushed down the stairs. "I'll check on Scorpius and then we can go."

"Your mother's just taken him to my house, Bella was expecting them." Voldemort said.

"I forgot they were spending the day with aunt Bella." Draco said.

Voldemort waited for Draco to explain why he was late but when no explanation was forthcoming he turned his attention to business. "Should we get on. I'm hoping we can get the majority of checks done today."

"Fine. Can we start with Potter?" Draco asked.

"Is there any particular reason you wish to start with Potter?" Voldemort asked.

"He's the furthest away." Draco shrugged, trying not to appear too eager to check on his former adversary. "I just thought it would be easier to travel to America first."

"What about the time difference?" Voldemort asked. "It'll still be the middle of the night there, we'll be better off going there this afternoon."

"I didn't think of that." Draco said with a sigh. He was disappointed that he would have to wait to check on Potter.

"Let's start in this country and we'll check on Potter later." Voldemort said.

Casting a disillusionment charm on them both, Voldemort grabbed onto Draco's arm and apparated them to check on their first location of the day. It usually took less than an hour to make sure that each person was living quite normally as a muggle and living their life with no idea of the magical world that existed.

When the members of the Order had originally been relocated after the war, Draco was too ill to have any participation in it. But on the first check The Dark Lord had taken him on Draco was very impressed with the thought that had been given to relocating the Order.

Voldemort had made sure that each person had a house, a job, a small amount of money and some memories of a muggle life so they could survive in the world they were now a part of. Everyone's minds were filled with knowledge of muggle life and they all had a story implanted in them that they had just moved to a new place to explain the lack of friends and family they had. Draco was also surprised by the thought that had gone into the job's the Order had, each job played to the strengths and abilities the person already possessed. Draco had a feeling that Hermione had played a large part in allocating jobs she thought her former friends would enjoy and excel at. Neville for example worked in a garden centre with plants while Oliver worked in a gym. Dean was an illustrator for a magazine while Bill worked in a bank while his wife, Fleur had been a nurse before she had gotten pregnant.

By dinner time Draco was getting bored of checking on people who obviously had no memory they were wizards and witches. It didn't take long to check that people were living their life in exactly the same way as they had been the month before and the month before that.

Draco was bored of watching the Order lead their dull lives, the only people who seemed to have made the most of their lives were Bill and Fleur. While the rest of the Order still lived and worked at the same places that Voldemort had set them up in and had very little in the way of love lives, Bill and Fleur had started a family and moved into a lovely new house in the country.

"Should we check on Potter now?" Voldemort said, as they finished checking on yet another member of the Order who were still leading their dull lives.

"Why not, it can't be any more boring." Draco muttered.

Voldemort chuckled at Draco's bored tone with a nod to Draco they both apparated to a wizarding pub, in Boston. Voldemort actually owned the pub so no one dared to enter the room that he used to apparate in and out of when he had to visit America. Arriving in the back room, Voldemort and Draco took a minute to recover from apparating such a long distance before they left the back room and headed into the bar.

Once in the bar, Voldemort checked with the manager that everything was running smoothly before him and Draco left the dark pub. Once outside Voldemort cast another disillusionment charm on both himself and Draco before they left the small wizarding community and headed into the nearby muggle world.

Unlike the other members of the Order who were checked on once a month, Harry was checked on every couple of weeks but Draco suspected that Voldemort sometimes paid extra visits to the former wizard by himself.

It was only a short walk to the small house that Harry lived in and it was only a few minutes further to the call centre that he worked in. Draco had decided long ago that Potter's life was the most boring of the lot, he had a suspicion that Voldemort had deliberately picked a dull monotonous job for his former enemy.

Despite his dull job, Potter had shown no inclination to find a new job or to make any sort of effort with his life. Every time they visited Potter his life seemed to consist of work and the few friends he had made, he never seemed to have any sort of romantic relationship as far as Draco had seen.

As they spent their time checking Potter's life out and his activity, Draco was relieved to find that nothing had changed with the man. There was no way he could have been at the Manor the previous night.

After the relief of finding that everything was fine with Potter, Draco found the rest of the afternoon passed much quicker despite being just as monotonous as the morning had been.

* * *

Draco was later returning to the Manor than he anticipated as once they had checked on Harry, Voldemort had insisted they visit everyone else to get the job done in one day.

Entering the front room he was surprised to see that Hermione was sitting chatting with Theo as she held Scorpius on her knee.

"Hello, Theo." Draco greeted his friend he entered the room. He then walked over to his wife. "Hi, Beautiful." He said, kissing Hermione softly.

"Hi." Hermione smiled at Draco and pulled him back for a deeper kiss until Theo cleared his throat, attracting the couple's attention.

Draco turned to glare at his friend who merely smirked back at the blond.

"Is there a reason you're sitting here disturbing me kissing my wife?" Draco asked Theo.

"Yes, I've come to see if you want to come out with some of the guys. We're going to the pub for some food and a couple of drinks." Theo said.

"I'm not sure…" Draco started but was interrupted by Hermione.

"Go. You haven't seen your friends for a while and I've got a pile of work to do." Hermione said to her husband.

"Are you sure?" Draco asked. It would be nice to see his friends as he hadn't spent any time with them in quite a while.

"Yes." Hermione nodded. "Go and have fun. Just don't come back drunk."

"I won't." Draco said, rolling his eyes at his wife. "I'll go and get changed and then we can go." He added to Theo before he left the room to change clothing.

Fifteen minutes later Draco and Theo apparated to a nearby wizarding pub where their friends were waiting. The group consisted of former Slytherins, many of whom were Death Eaters.

Draco enjoyed being with the group as they didn't treat him any different even though he was higher ranked in the Death Eaters and was so close with Voldemort. Most of the group, like Crabbe and Goyle, were amongst the lowest ranking Death Eaters. While another friend, Blaise Zabini wasn't actually a Death Eater even though he supported the cause and was a former Slytherin.

Within ten minutes the alcohol was flowing and the banter between the men was reminiscent of old times. Draco was immediately transported back to his school days when it was common for the group to sit around the Slytherin common room causing uproar. Spending time with his friends made Draco remember what fun he had had on the most part whilst he was at school. While the rest of the school thought the Slytherin's were cold and distant, down in the dungeons there were real friendships forged and plenty of wild parties to attend.

When the conversation turned to women and sex, Draco and Theo as the only two married men in the group headed to the bar as to avoid being dragged into risqué conversation. Neither men would discuss their wives and their sex lives with their friends, so they decided to avoid the conversation. While most of the group actually had girlfriends, Blaise was resolutely single and liked nothing better than to brag about his colourful sex life and ask awkward questions about other people's.

"Do you think everything Blaise says is true?" Theo asked Draco as they watched Blaise tell the group one of his outrageous stories.

"I doubt it." Draco said, shaking his head. "Half the stories he told in Hogwarts were what he wanted to happen not what actually had happened."

"I'm sure they weren't all lies." Theo said. "We both know that Blaise had his fair share of girls in school."

"Yes, he also told a few stories about girls he didn't have." Draco said. "Pansy for one." He smirked at Theo.

"We both know that Pansy wouldn't go anywhere near Blaise." Theo said as he took a swig of his firewhisky.

"I know, but it didn't stop Blaise saying he'd slept with her in sixth year." Draco said.

"I remember that, you punched him." Theo said with a laugh as he remembered the incident that had happened in the Slytherin common room during sixth year.

"That wasn't why I punched him, I just used that as an excuse." Draco admitted. "Can you remember earlier that day when we had a run in with Potter and Weasley?" He asked Theo.

Theo had to think for a bit before he recalled the incident. When he did he suddenly understood why Draco had really punched Blaise later that night.

"I remember." Theo said. "We were having a slanging match and Hermione came and broke it up. Then Blaise made some sordid crack about her and the dense duo."

"I couldn't exactly defend Hermione there and then so when he made up that rubbish about Pansy later in the night I had a perfect excuse to punch him." Draco explained.

Theo laughed as he realised just how sneaky Draco had been. The two men then carried on reminiscing about school and the things they got up to. Once they were sure that Blaise had told all his sex related stories and that the conversation among their friends was safe to participate in, Draco and Theo returned to the table where they stayed for a couple more hours.

Just before midnight Draco and Theo said goodbye to their friends and headed home to their wives. Draco deliberately apparated into the library of his and Hermione's wing as to not disturb his wife if she was already in bed.

Heading to the bedroom, Draco couldn't help but sneak a look at his sleeping son before he continued into the room next door. Finding Hermione already in bed, Draco headed into the bathroom for a wash and to get ready for bed. Re-entering the room wearing a pair of dark grey pyjama bottoms, Draco crawled into bed beside his wife.

"Did you have fun?" Hermione mumbled sleepily as Draco got into the bed.

"Yes, thanks for making me go." Draco said, kissing his wife's bare shoulder.

It wasn't until Draco wrapped his arms around Hermione and pulled her to him that he realised his wife wasn't wearing anything. Draco's hands immediately started exploring Hermione's naked body, causing her to moan in pleasure. Hermione turned around to face Draco while his hands continued to glide over her soft skin.

"You're not drunk are you?" She asked her husband. She was fairly certain he was sober, but she wanted to be sure.

"No, I'm perfectly sober." Draco grinned, pulling Hermione into a searing kiss.

Draco's pyjama pants were soon discarded as the couple's passion mounted and before long the sounds of their lovemaking echoed around the large soundproofed room.


	7. Chapter 7

"Well, what do you think?" Tonks asked.

She had just finished showing Fred and George around her new house deep in the muggle countryside in Wales. For the past few weeks when Tonks hadn't been returning the Order's memories and magic she had been looking for a big muggle house to use as Order headquarters.

"It's great." Fred said.

"But how did you afford it?" George asked.

"After I sold my parent's house I took the money from the sale out of Gringotts and kept changing it into muggle money over time." Tonks explained. She gave the simple explanation and didn't go into details about how she had used less than reputable firms to change her money. "And this building was actually quite cheap as it needed lots of work doing on it."

"Tonks this place is perfect, it doesn't need any work." Fred said, looking around the large kitchen.

"That's because I've fixed it up using magic." Tonks said laughing slightly. "So do you think it'll work as headquarters?" She asked the twins.

"Yes, we just need to sort out the rooms." Fred said. "This place is going to have to hold a lot more people than Grimmauld Place as we have nowhere else to go."

"I know, more people will have to share a room, but hopefully we can defeat Voldemort and his followers quickly this time." Tonks said.

"We still have to deal with the Horcrux's somehow." George sighed. "He can't be defeated without destroying them first."

"I know. Last time I spoke to Harry, he said it was something he was working on." Tonks said. "We can discuss it tonight at the meeting."

"Will it be a full meeting?" Fred asked.

"Yes, everyone's coming. I'm going to go and get Lavender and Katie myself as they can't apparate yet." Tonks said. Lavender Brown and Katie Bell were the last two members of the Order who were waiting for their potion to be ready and it was due any day now.

"Good, hopefully we can start making some definite plans." Fred said.

"Hopefully." Tonks said. She was dying to start orchestrating the downfall of the people who had won the war.

"We'll see you tonight then." George said as he prepared to apparate away with Fred.

"Bye." Tonks smiled, as the twins disappeared from the house.

Once the twins had left, Tonks headed upstairs to where Teddy was having a nap in the bedroom she had nabbed for herself and her son. Looking at her son sleeping peacefully Tonks briefly wondered if she was doing the right thing by putting her life on the line, if something went wrong Teddy would be left without both of his parents. As she thought of Remus however and the fact he never got to meet his son it only ended up strengthening Tonks determination to take down the dark side.

* * *

The first hour of the meeting was more of a social gathering as people who hadn't seen each other in over three years caught up. Eventually Tonks called for some order and the meeting began properly.

"First of all, I would like to thank everyone for joining the Order and agreeing to fight." Tonks said, staring the meeting. She had taken on the role of leader as it had been her idea to reassemble the group. "Now we're nearly all back with our magic intact, it's time to make some serious plans."

"Where do we start though?" Dean Thomas asked.

"How about Azkaban." Seamus suggested. "Surely we're stronger with the whole Order free."

"No. There's something I want to investigate before we break into Azkaban." Harry said. "Breaking into Azkaban and freeing everyone is our way of announcing our return. Once we do that Voldemort and his Death Eaters will be after us."

"What do you want to investigate?" Cho asked.

"The Horcrux's." Harry said. "If we're going to defeat Voldemort this time we need to destroy them all."

"But we've never known the identity of the last one or where the cup is. He's probably moved the diadem as well now." Neville Longbottom said as a few people nodded along with what he was saying.

"I want to check for the diadem at Hogwarts, my gut says Voldemort's so cocky he's returned the diadem to the Room of Requirement." Harry explained.

"I guess that's where I come in useful." Hannah said.

"Yes, if you can I would like you to check for the diadem and remove it if you can." Harry said to Hannah. Hannah nodded, eager to do something to help the cause.

"But what about the cup and the other Horcrux?" Neville asked.

"I'm still unsure of the cup." Harry admitted. "But I'm thinking it could be in Malfoy Manor, his house or the Lestrange house."

"I doubt it would be in the Lestrange house." Fred said with a laugh.

"I doubt he'd trust Rodolphus not to destroy it after he stole his wife." George added.

At half the group's puzzled expressions Fred and George explained how shortly after the battle Bellatrix had divorced her husband, went back to using her maiden name and moved in with Voldemort.

"Anyway, I still think the cup is in one of those two houses." Harry said, scratching the Lestrange property of his list. "But we'll worry about that later."

"What about the final one? Do you have any ideas regarding the identity of that one?" Tonks asked.

"Actually I do." Harry said with a nod, and the entire group focused their attentions on him. "When my memories started to become clearer it gave me a second chance to remember everything that had happened. In fifth year Voldemort used our connection to lure me to the ministry and I used it a few times during the war. I've never experienced anything like being in his mind apart from the time in fifth year when I dreamt about Arthur being attacked by Nagini."

"What are you saying Harry?" Seamus questioned.

"That dream I had was from Nagini's perspective. I was in her head." As Harry explained to the group he wondered why he hadn't made the connection between Voldemort and his pet during the war. "The only way I could be in there was if Voldemort was also in there."

"Nagini's a Horcrux." Tonks exclaimed, understanding what Harry was saying. "That's why she never leaves his sight."

"Yes, I think the snake will have to be taken out last as we won't get the opportunity before the final battle to get near to it." Harry said.

"How are we going to destroy them?" Dean asked. "Hannah might be able to get into the Room of Requirement and look for the diadem but I doubt she can get into the Chamber of Secrets for a basilisk fang."

"I already have a basilisk fang." Tonks said. "I've been planning this for a long time." She added when people looked at her in surprise.

"So for now, everyone carries on their lives as normal." Harry said, eager to end the meeting and get home. Planning for a war he wasn't sure he should even be fighting was making him tired. "Hannah will try to find the diadem and Tonks will contact everyone when we have some more news."

As the meeting broke up, Harry quickly said his goodbye's and headed home to his small muggle flat in Boston. It was getting harder for Harry to ignore the gnawing doubts he was feeling about the upcoming war. He was also starting to remember things he knew weren't even his memories, most of them involved Hermione and they caused him to view her deflection to the dark side in a different light. Harry thought his memories of after the final battle were returning to him and they were starting to affect his opinions on the war that Tonks had instigated.

* * *

Hannah hurried along the corridors at Hogwarts, hoping not to bump into anyone. While she was a member of staff and could technically go where she liked, Hannah wasn't a very skilled liar and she didn't want someone asking awkward questions about why the Herbology Professor was wandering about the seventh floor.

Luckily Hannah reached the Room of Requirement without bumping into anybody. Slipping inside the room Hannah headed for the corner she had found the diadem in at lunchtime. It had taken Hannah the whole week to search the room and find the Horcrux that was casually placed on top of a bookshelf in the far corner of the room. Hannah slipped the diadem into her bag and headed back towards the door.

It was late Friday afternoon and her last class had just finished. Hannah had deliberately waited until the end of the day to take the diadem so that she could return to her office and floo home immediately. Waiting so late in the day before she made the move meant that Hannah only had possession of the Horcrux for a few minutes and her chances of getting caught were less than if she had been carrying it around since lunchtime. Hannah was also hoping that once she delivered the diadem to Tonks tonight she wouldn't have to return to the school, she wasn't convinced she could carry on working at Hogwarts without giving something away accidentally.

Hannah made it safely out of the Room of Requirement without been seen and quickly hurried away from the room that disappeared behind her. Hannah had made it to the third floor and was heading for the stairs when the door to a nearby classroom opened with a bang and Hermione flew out the room, crashing headfirst in Hannah.

The collision caused both women to crash to the floor and Hannah lost her grip on her bag, causing it to skid along the floor. A bitter laugh from the doorway from which Hermione had just emerged caused both women to look up. Amycus Carrow was standing in the doorway sneering at the two women.

"Looks like the mudblood and the traitor are right where they belong, on the floor." Amycus sneered before he turned and started to walk away.

"Impedimenta." Hermione cried, waving her wand at Amycus who froze mid stride.

Hermione got up and brushed herself off, before picking Hannah's bag up off the floor and turning to her former friend. Hannah who had also been in the process of standing up froze when Hermione reached for her bag.

"I'm sorry, Hannah." Hermione said, holding Hannah's bag out to her.

"It's alright." Hannah said shakily. Quickly she grabbed the bag and gripped it tightly against her chest. "I should go."

Hermione nodded and Hannah rushed away, heading for the stairs. Hannah walked quickly throughout the rest of the school heading for her office, she was still shaking at how close she had come to being caught. Hannah entered her office and headed for the fireplace, trying not to think about what would have happened if her bag had come open or if Hermione had questioned what was in her bag.

* * *

Hermione watched her former friend go before she turned back to a frozen Amycus Carrow.

Ever since Hermione had started teaching at Hogwarts she had encountered problems with the Carrow siblings. Hermione was unsure if they were more bothered by her being a muggleborn or the fact that she was deputy headmistress and would one day run the school. Both things seemed to bother them, but usually they just made the odd snide comment and gave Hermione dirty looks.

Hermione had put up with their behaviour and ignored them as she knew that there was nothing they could do to her without incurring the wrath of her entire family. Hermione had often wondered about asking Severus to replace them but until today she had found no reason to have either Carrow dismissed.

Earlier today she had being dropping some books off to the Dark Arts supply cupboard when she had heard commotion in the nearby classroom. Thinking there was no Professor present she entered the room only to find that Amycus was using an unforgivable curse on one of the muggleborn students. While Hermione was aware that the unforgivable curses were sometimes taught in lessons she also knew it was forbidden to use them on pupils. Hermione had dismissed the class and informed Amycus that she would be reporting him to Severus and he would probably be sacked.

Hermione had spent the rest of the afternoon waiting for Severus to return to school as he had been busy elsewhere for most of the day. Once she was sure Severus was back Hermione set off for his office, which was where she was heading when Amycus pulled her into a classroom and started yelling at her. She had just managed to escape the room when she had ran into Hannah.

Hermione walked towards the frozen wizard and positioned herself so she was standing in front of him. Summoning his wand she unfroze his head so she could speak with him.

"Take this spell off at once, mudblood bitch." Amycus spat as soon as Hermione had released the spell.

"Not yet." Hermione said with a shake of her head. "You're going to listen to me first."

"Why the hell would I listen to you." Amycus said with a sneer.

"Because you have no choice." Hermione said with a small smile. "I was just going to tell Severus about this afternoon and recommend you be sacked, now I'm going to insist on it."

"You can't do that. It's not up to you whether I'm fired." Amycus said, trying to sound menacing. He was well aware that Hermione could pretty much do as she wished because of who she was married to.

"Really." Hermione said, with a smirk reminiscent of Draco's. "We both know if I want you gone, The Dark Lord will side with me. Especially if I tell anybody what you've being calling me this afternoon."

Amycus visibly paled at the thought of Hermione mentioning he had called her a mudblood. While he was scared of The Dark Lord it was actually Draco who he was more worried about. When the young Malfoy had first become a Death Eater Amycus wasn't very impressed with Draco, but as he embraced his role as a Death Eater and became Voldemort's right hand man the blond had proven himself to be very deadly when angry. And it was common knowledge that the one sure fire way to make him angry was to insult his wife.

Pleased with Amycus reaction she walked to the end of the corridor before she turned back to the partially frozen wizard. "If I was you, I'd start packing." Hermione said before she unfroze him and threw his wand back at him.

Hermione left the fuming wizard standing in the middle of the corridor as she headed to Severus' office. She was determined by that the end of the night Amycus would no longer be on the staff at Hogwarts.

* * *

**A.N - Sorry for the long delay between updating but I've gotten carried away with my other stories. I know people are dying for Harry's full memory to return and I can reveal it will be happening in the next few chapters.**


	8. Chapter 8

On Saturday afternoon Harry sat listening to the Order making plans wishing he was anywhere but in Tonks' front room. It had only taken Hannah a week to locate the Diadem and now a debate was going on as to whether to destroy it now or later.

"What do you think Harry?" Hannah asked, pulling Harry into the conversation.

"I think we should wait. Dumbledore suspected that the fewer Horcrux's were left the more Voldemort would notice them being destroyed." Harry said, reluctantly taking part in the conversation.

"Fine, we'll keep it somewhere safe until we've broken into Azkaban." Tonks said with authority.

"When will that be?" Dean asked.

"I'm not sure. As soon as possible." Tonks said. "Ideally we want a night when Voldemort's distracted elsewhere."

"How about tomorrow?" George suggested.

"It's Hermione and Malfoy's anniversary, Charlie and Luna are having dinner at the Manor." Fred explained.

"So everyone else will probably be there, including Voldemort." George finished for his brother.

"Isn't tomorrow too soon." Harry said. His doubts about the war were growing stronger each day and he wasn't sure he was ready for things to progress so much.

"No, tomorrow's perfect." Tonks said, smiling at the opportunity that had befallen them.

"Maybe now's the time you explained how we break into Azkaban, Tonks." Seamus said.

The whole group turned their attention to the witch, everyone had been eager to find out her plan since she had first mentioned she had a plan to break into the wizarding prison.

"First of all I have to point out that the security for Azkaban is seriously lacking due to Voldemort believing we present no threat to him anymore. There is only a small amount of Dementors present at any one time. I believe that if we all go to Azkaban and use the patronus charm we can get rid of the Dementors long enough to enter the prison and transport everyone back here."

Everyone sat in silence for several minutes following Tonks speech, they were all mulling over her plan and wondering if it could work.

"How would we get to Azkaban, surely there's wards to prevent us from apparating there?" Neville finally asked, breaking the silence.

"I'm sure there is." Tonks said. "I was thinking we arrive by boat. I'm fairly confident with a locating spell we can work out the best place to set sail from. Voldemort will never have considered a break out via muggle means."

"What about any wards? And how will we get people out?" Oliver Wood asked.

"We'll work out the wards when we get there but I'm fairly confident they'll be pretty weak. Voldemort's let his guard down now he thinks there's no threat anymore." Tonks explained. "As for getting people out, before we go we'll allocate each person who enters a specific person to rescue."

As plans were discussed in detail, Harry tuned the group out. He hadn't told anyone but his memories from after the battle were slowly returning. What had started as dreams were now becoming solid memories in his head. Harry could clearly remember Voldemort visiting him regularly and showing him memories revolving around Hermione. He knew there was something else that had happened regarding Hermione but he couldn't get a solid grip on the memory.

As his memories were returning Harry started asking himself questions he had never really considered before, the main ones being why didn't Voldemort just kill them all? Why let them live? Harry was under no illusion that if the light side had won the war, Voldemort and his Death Eaters would have been killed. There was no way he would have given them a second chance at life like Voldemort had done for them.

Harry listened to the group organising plans for the following day and found himself wishing that Tonks had never bumped into him on Christmas Eve. If only he had popped to the shops at a different time all this could have been avoided, or at the very least he wouldn't be involved.

There was a part of Harry that just wanted to return to his muggle life and pretend the last few weeks hadn't happened but he knew that now he had his magic back there was no way he could live as a muggle. He was currently contemplating running but Harry wasn't keen on the idea of abandoning his friends and living life constantly looking over his shoulder. Whether he liked it or not he was now stuck fighting a war, only this time he didn't want to be a part of it.

* * *

Narcissa sat in Lucius' office looking at the sheet of parchment in her hand. The parchment contained a menu for tomorrow night and Narcissa wasn't convinced she had things exactly right. Making a few final adjustments to the menu, Narcissa called the head House Elf and handed her the parchment.

"This is the final menu for tomorrow night, everything must be perfect." Narcissa told the elf.

"Yes, Mistress." The elf said with a small curtsey before apparating away.

Once the elf had left, Narcissa pulled out some more parchment and carried on making plans. She still had so much to organise, the seating arrangement, decorations and entertainment to name a few. Narcissa was so busy with her part planning she failed to hear Lucius enter the room until he was standing in front of his desk.

"I was planning on asking you if you would like to join Scorpius and I in the garden but you look rather busy." Lucius said, taking in the numerous pieces of parchment strewn about his usually neat desk.

Narcissa looked up and smiled when she noticed her husband was carrying their grandson. "Maybe when I've finished here, but there's still so much to organise. I want tomorrow to be perfect."

Lucius smiled at his wife and after giving her a peck on the cheek he left the room with Scorpius, he was well aware of how much the following night meant to Narcissa.

Left alone again, Narcissa returned to planning dinner the following night, it was the first time Hermione had agreed to let her mother-in-law throw a dinner to celebrate her and Draco's wedding anniversary and Narcissa wanted it to be perfect.

On Draco and Hermione's first anniversary Draco had whisked his wife off to their private island for a week, much to Narcissa's disappointment. Last year, their second anniversary, Scorpius was only six weeks old so all the attention was on the newest addition to the Malfoy family rather than Hermione and Draco.

Narcissa had started asking Hermione about celebrating her and Draco's anniversary just after Christmas but it was only within the last fortnight that her daughter-in-law had agreed to a small dinner for family and close friends. Not wanting Hermione to regret agreeing to dinner, Narcissa had set about creating the perfect evening for her son and his wife.

* * *

The late afternoon sunlight reflected off the River Seine as Hermione and Draco strolled hand in hand along the banks of the river in the French capital. As an anniversary present Lucius and Narcissa had booked the couple into an expensive boutique hotel in wizarding Paris while they looked after Scorpius for the weekend. The only catch was the couple had to be back at Malfoy Manor late on Sunday afternoon to attend the dinner party Hermione had agreed to let Narcissa throw for them later that night.

Hermione had been thrilled to get away, even if it was just the one night. After her run in with Amycus on Friday, the wizard had been fired by Severus and his sister had walked out in protest. Hermione did wonder if Voldemort would reinstate them but after Hermione had told him what had happened, minus the mudblood comment, he had agreed it was best the two siblings were no longer a part of the teaching staff. Hermione had worried about what Severus was going to do about replacing staff in the middle of the year but he had assured her that he could have it sorted by the time school started on Monday morning.

"So have you decided what you want yet?" Draco asked, bringing Hermione back to the present.

All day Draco had been asking Hermione what she wanted for their anniversary, the following day. Hermione knew that he would already have bought her something and that he was just looking for an excuse to spoil her.

"I have thought of something I want." Hermione said slowly. "But it's nothing you can give me tomorrow."

"Try me." Draco responded cockily. "Malfoy's can do pretty much anything."

Hermione laughed lightly at Draco's confidence. "While I'm sure that's true, I can assure you what I want you can't give me tomorrow."

"What on earth do you want?" Draco asked puzzled. He was pretty sure with his money and connections he could get almost anything for his wife.

"Another baby." Hermione admitted, hoping she got a positive response from Draco.

Draco stopped walking in surprise, causing Hermione to nearly fall over as she was still holding his hand. Hermione quickly regained her balance and moved so she was standing in front of Draco. Hermione was nervous about his response, they had always said they wanted two or three children but having another child wasn't something they had mentioned since just after Scorpius was born.

"We don't have to, if you're not ready." Hermione said, taking Draco's silence as a negative response.

"I am ready, I would love another baby." Draco said, reassuring Hermione. "I was just shocked by the timing. You always said you wanted to wait until Scorpius was older before we had any more children."

"I know I did, but I've been thinking about having another baby a lot lately." Hermione said, pulling gently on Draco's hand so the couple carried on walking. "That day we took Scorpius and Jasmine to the dragon sanctuary really started it all. It gave me an idea of what we would be like with a larger family."

"I'm defiantly up for having a bigger family as long as you're sure it's not too soon." Draco said to Hermione.

"No, it's not." Hermione said. "Even if I get pregnant quickly, by the time the baby's due Scorpius will be two or nearly two."

"When did you plan on getting started on baby number two?" Draco asked with a grin.

"Whenever you want, I haven't taken this month's contraception potion." Hermione said.

"So you could already be pregnant, it is the middle of the month." Draco said, sounding slightly hopeful that Hermione could already be carrying his baby.

"No, I'm not. It's not that far into the month and it takes a few weeks for the after effects of the potion to die down." Hermione explained, causing Draco to pout in disappointment.

Hermione giggled at Draco's disappointment. Stopping walking she pulled Draco so he was standing in front of her. "Don't look so disappointed. Think of the fun we can have trying for a baby."

Draco smiled seductively and wrapped Hermione in his arms, bringing his lips down to hers. "That sounds like fun." He whispered against her lips.

"Maybe we should head back to the hotel." Hermione suggested, looking up at Draco with lust filled eyes.

Draco quickly checked there were no muggles around as he prepared to apparate them back to the hotel, while they were staying in wizarding Paris it was easy to wander into the muggle part of the city if you weren't paying close attention. Satisfied they were alone Draco apparated them back to the lobby of the hotel where they quickly retreated to their room.

They had barely entered their room and shut the door before Draco had Hermione pinned up against the wall, his hands roaming her body while he kissed her passionately. Hermione responded eagerly, her hands ripping open Draco's shirt before descending to loosen his trousers. Hurriedly undressing each other the couple stumbled to the bed, and fell onto it tangled together.

Within seconds of tumbling onto the large hotel bed, Draco had Hermione's underwear removed so his wife was lying naked in front of him. Draco immediately began trailing gentle kisses over Hermione's soft skin, making sure to worship every inch of his wife's body. When Draco had finished orally pleasuring her, Hermione pushed her husband back onto the bed and returned the favour.

For the remainder of the afternoon and long into the night, Draco and Hermione stayed locked in their hotel room as they started work on extending their family.


	9. Chapter 9

Draco and Hermione awoke late on the morning of their third anniversary. After another round of passionate lovemaking Draco had presented Hermione with a stunning diamond bracelet for an anniversary present, which led to the couple spending another half hour in bed as Hermione showed Draco how grateful she was for the piece of jewellery.

When the couple had final gotten out of bed and dressed, well after midday, they decided to spend the afternoon in muggle Paris before they headed home. Hermione had been eager to visit The Louvre and despite not being keen on spending the afternoon mingling with muggles Draco had agreed to his wife's request.

Despite his initial reservations about spending time in the muggle world, Draco thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon spent in the beautiful art museum. In fact he even purchased several expensive paintings, most were for his and Hermione's wing of the Manor but he found one that he had decided to keep for his mother's birthday.

After an enjoyable afternoon looking at the art and spending more than they had intended, Draco and Hermione headed back to their hotel so they could return home. Once they had checked out of the hotel they used the community fireplaces to floo back to their wing of the Manor in Wiltshire.

Arriving back in their bedroom, Draco put their bags down for a house elf to unpack later. Draco had used a transportation spell on the painting's they had bought and he knew they would be sitting in the library for when he was ready to sort them. When Hermione arrived in the room seconds after Draco she tutted at the fact he had abandoned the bags for a house elf to deal with but eager to see her son she didn't berate him.

"Are we going to tell anyone about trying for another baby?" Draco asked, as Hermione took off her jacket and changed into more comfortable shoes.

"I think we should keep it to ourselves until we're actually pregnant." Hermione said. "The last thing I want is your mother giving us advice on how to conceive."

"I'm sure she wouldn't so that." Draco said, looking horrified at the thought of Narcissa interfering in their sex lives.

"I'm sure she would." Hermione said, laughing at the look on Draco's face. "When I was pregnant with Scorpius she was constantly telling me the best way to do things or comparing my pregnancy with hers."

While Hermione loved Narcissa she knew that her mother-in-law had an opinion about everything and loved to share her advice. During her pregnancy Hermione had been driven to distraction by Narcissa and her constant rehashing of what happened to her when she was expecting Draco.

"Fine, we'll not tell anybody." Draco said. "Should we go and find Scorpius?" He asked his wife as he threw his own jacket over the back of a chair.

"Yes, I've really missed him." Hermione said, heading for the door.

Hermione and Draco left their bedroom and headed for the main part of the Manor. They knew that they wouldn't find Scorpius or Draco's parents in their own personal wing or in Lucius and Narcissa's wing. It took Hermione and Draco a few minutes to find anyone in the vast Manor, eventually they found Lucius, Narcissa and Scorpius in the library sitting by a roaring fire.

Lucius was sitting in his favourite chair beside the fire with Scorpius on his lap, he was obviously telling his grandson a story even though there was no sign of a book. Narcissa was sitting on a small sofa nearby with some sort of stitching project on her knee. Draco and Hermione stood silently in the doorway watching as Hermione tried to work out what story Lucius was telling Scorpius, it seemed to involve dragons but it wasn't a story Hermione was familiar with.

"He's just making it up as he goes along." Draco whispered in her ear, knowing exactly what was puzzling his wife. "Father always could tell the best imaginary stories. He used to tell them to me when I was little. The only trouble was I could remember the stories better than him so when I wanted a particular story he couldn't remember the right way to tell it and I used to spend the entire time correcting him."

Hermione smiled at the insight to her husband's childhood, she already knew that when he was little he was very close with Lucius but as he grew up they drifted apart and they had only recently began to re-capture some of the closeness they had once shared.

As Draco and Hermione were standing listening to Lucius entertain their son, Scorpius suddenly spotted his parents out the corner of his eye.

"Mama, Dada." Scorpius cried, interrupting Lucius' story and reaching out for his parents.

"Hi, baby. Have you been a good boy?" Hermione said, walking over to where Lucius was sitting and picking Scorpius up from his knee.

"Of course he has." Narcissa said, smiling as she watched Hermione and Draco with their son.

"Thank you both for looking after him." Draco told his parents, tearing his eyes away from his wife and son.

"You're welcome, son." Lucius said. He had thoroughly enjoyed looking after Scorpius as it reminded him of a time when Draco was little and he had been a better father than he was when his son was a teenager.

"Did you have fun while you were away?" Narcissa asked.

"Yes, it was great. Thank you once again for the break." Hermione smiled at her mother-in-law.

"You're welcome dear." Narcissa said, vanishing her sewing and standing up. "I'd better go and start making sure everything's running smoothly for tonight."

Narcissa hurried out of the room to start her hours of preparation for the upcoming meal. Lucius shook his head at his wife's behaviour and turned to his son and daughter-in-law.

"Honestly, you would think Cissa had never thrown a dinner party the way she's carrying on." Lucius said, also standing up. "You should have seen the stacks of parchment she had all over my desk yesterday. It was an absolute mess."

Draco chuckled at how put out Lucius sounded, his father was a ridiculously neat person and the fact he had allowed Narcissa to mess up his desk only showed how much she meant to him. Lucius mock glared at his son for mocking him before he excused himself, leaving Draco and Hermione alone with their son.

After a few minutes Draco and Hermione headed back to their room, they needed to bathe Scorpius and put him to bed before they started getting ready for the night ahead.

* * *

Harry sat in the middle of his bed, staring at the packed bag beside him. He was due at Tonks' house any minute to prepare for the breakout later that night. Tonks had advised people to bring a few of their belonging with them as after the breakout they wouldn't be able to return to their muggle homes.

Harry turned to the small box on his bedside table, he had been debating whether or not to include it for several hours. Inside the box was his muggle passport and several hundred dollars he had saved up over the past few years. Harry was still thinking about running away and events of the morning were only fuelling the idea.

When Harry woke he had very vivid memories of a dream he had just had about Hermione. In the dream he was sitting talking to Hermione and he had made peace with why she had switched sides. As Harry lay in bed thinking about the dream he began to realise it wasn't a dream and it had actually happened. The more he thought about it the clearer the memories became, he could now remember Voldemort giving him memories of Hermione and taking him to see her.

Reluctantly Harry stood up and slipped the box containing his passport into the bottom of his bag. Grabbing the bag he prepared to apparate to Tonks' house, he had decided to have a talk with the witch before events of the night. Harry was hoping to talk Tonks out of pressing ahead with her plans but he really wasn't hopeful now that she had the backing of the rest of the Order.

Harry apparated to the new Order Headquarters, arriving in the middle of mayhem as the Order were settling in and sorting out bedrooms.

"Hi, Harry." Fred shouted from the other side of the room where he was sitting with Teddy. "Your rooms on the top floor, you're sharing with Neville, Seamus and Dean."

"Just like old times." Harry muttered as he headed for the room to deposit his bag. Sharing a room with his old housemates wasn't in Harry's plans as he wasn't sure he could turn his back on his friends once he was spending time with them.

After depositing his bag on one of the two bed's that hadn't already been claimed, Harry headed back down stairs in search of Tonks. Harry found her sitting in the kitchen making final plans with a couple of people.

"Can we talk in private?" Harry asked Tonks, gesturing to the back door with his head.

"Sure." Tonks said. Getting up she made arrangements to continue the meeting in a few minutes and followed Harry into the back garden. "What do you want to talk about?" She asked once they were alone.

"Tonight." Harry said, wondering how to broach the subject of not forging ahead with their plans. "Have you really thought this through. If we do this there will be another war, people will get killed."

"I know." Tonks said. "But we're doing what's right Harry. Voldemort should never have won the war."

"Perhaps." Harry shrugged. "But what if we don't win again? Have you thought about Teddy and what'll happen to him if you're killed?"

"I'm doing this for Teddy. He's already lost his father and grandfather, I'm giving him back his grandmother." Tonks said forcefully. "I want him to live in a world not ruled by Voldemort."

When she had finished speaking Tonks turned on her heel and headed back indoors leaving Harry staring after her. Harry suddenly realised what Tonks' reasoning behind the war was, she wasn't after justice she wanted revenge for Remus and her father.

"Harry." Harry spun round to find Neville leaning against a tree watching him, he suspected the former Gryffindor had heard the entire conversation he had had with Tonks.

"Neville, What are you doing out here?" Harry asked.

"I was sitting thinking when you and Tonks came out." Neville said.

"What were you thinking about?" Harry asked.

"I was thinking about how I almost made a huge mistake by joining Tonks." Neville sighed. "And from the sound of the conversation you just had with her I'm guessing you're having doubts too."

"I am." Harry admitted. "But what do you mean you almost made a mistake? Surely you're a part of this now." He said, puzzled by Neville's statement.

"I'm going home. I've just come to say goodbye." Neville said sadly, the thought of never seeing his friends again was a sad one but he knew he was making the right decision.

"You're going to carry on living as a muggle even though you've got your magic and memories back." Harry exclaimed, shocked by what he was hearing.

"Yes, I was perfectly happy with my life and I can quite happily live as a muggle." Neville said.

"Why have you changed your mind about fighting?" Harry asked, curious as to what had prompted Neville's change of heart.

"When Tonks first came to see me she painted a very different picture of the wizarding world. It's nowhere near as bad as she made it out to be. Sure the muggleborn's have limited rights but they do have rights." Neville said. "If I'd known the world was actually going to be like this with Voldemort in charge I might have considered keeping my magic. I expected he would be a lot more bigoted in who could practice magic, but as far as I can see no-one is persecuted for being a muggleborn."

Harry nodded his head understanding Neville's points, he was thinking similarly to how Harry had been thinking recently.

"Bye, Harry." Neville said, holding his hand out for Harry to shake. "Make sure you're comfortable with whatever you decide to do, don't let Tonks or anyone else sway your decision."

Harry shook Neville's hand firmly. "Thanks for the advice. Bye Neville."

Neville gave Harry one final smile before he headed indoors to announce his decision and leave the Order to fight for something he wanted no part in. From the backyard Harry heard the uproar when Neville announced his intentions and he heard his formerly shy friend stand up for himself and stick to the decision he had made.

Harry stayed in the backyard throughout Neville's departure and the subsequent discussion that took place about his surprising decision. Harry idly wondered if Neville's departure would change things, would anyone else question what was happening and be brave enough to leave. Harry wondered if he was brave enough to leave like Neville, the difference was Neville was happy in his muggle life where Harry hated his work and had very few friends. Harry knew that if he left he wouldn't be returning to Boston, he would be running.

Harry eventually made a decision, as much as he hated himself he couldn't yet bring himself to run but he did feel the need to warn Hermione of what was to happen. Maybe if he could alert Hermione to what was happening, Voldemort could stop the breakout and Harry could flee in the confusion. Heading into the house Harry decided to give Tonks one final chance to call off the breakout before he found a way to deliver a message to Hermione.


	10. Chapter 10

Draco was standing in front of the floor length mirror in the bedroom adjusting his tie when Hermione emerged from the bathroom. Draco stared at his beautiful wife for several seconds before he found his voice.

"You look stunning, darling." He said with a smirk, thinking about how lucky he was to be married to Hermione.

"Thank you. You don't look so bad yourself." Hermione said as she made her way to her dressing table to find her jewellery for the night.

Hermione was wearing a floor length midnight blue hater neck dress. Her curly hair was pinned up on top of her head, revealing her bare back as the dress was backless. Draco was impeccably dressed in black trousers and a light grey shirt, with his jacket lying on the bed for him to put on before they left the room.

Hermione searched through her jewellery box for some appropriate pieces to wear. She was already wearing the bracelet that Draco had given her earlier for their anniversary. Hermione eventually found what she was looking for, delicate sapphire drop earrings with a matching teardrop necklace. Hermione put the earrings in before asking Draco to help her fasten the necklace.

"You look very sexy in this dress." Draco said, placing delicate kisses on Hermione's neck once he had fastened her necklace.

"Thank you. But we don't have time." Hermione said to her husband. She knew exactly what Draco was thinking and the hand that had snuck it's way under her dress confirmed her suspicions of what her husband's intentions had been.

"Damn dinner." Draco muttered, removing his hand from Hermione's warm body.

"I'm sure we can find plenty of time later tonight." Hermione said, kissing Draco quickly before she headed to the wardrobe to find some shoes.

Draco mumbled his agreement and put on his jacket while Hermione was retrieving her shoes. When Hermione returned, wearing sapphire blue stilettoes, the couple left their bedroom and started to head for dinner. Before leaving their wing they checked on Scorpius and Daisy, the little elf looking after him as usual, before they made their way downstairs.

Lucius and Narcissa were already waiting in the front room, Lucius was wearing his usual dark dress robes while Narcissa was wearing a lovely powder blue robe. A few minutes after Draco and Hermione entered the room the floo network sounded and Voldemort and Bella stepped out of the green flames, Severus emerging directly behind them. All three were dressed in their usual dark attire, Bella the only one with some sort of sparkle that came via her emerald necklace.

As the family caught up with each other they waited for the other guests to arrive. Charlie and Luna were the first to arrive, both looking very happy and comfortable surrounded by the dark family Hermione was a part of. Charlie was wearing a grey suit with a white shirt while Luna was wearing a yellow dress that fell just below her knees, it was one of Luna's normal outfits and she looked lovely in it.

The last couple to arrive were Theo and Pansy, who immediately apologised for being late even though it was only a few minutes. Theo was dressed very similarly to Draco but while Draco's shirt was grey Theo's was dark blue. Pansy was wearing a very tight fitting deep purple dress that showed off all her curves and her impressive cleavage.

As everyone had a drink and mingled before dinner Hermione was thrilled to see that Charlie and Luna seemed to be interacting with her family better. Charlie was in deep discussion with Voldemort about the latest dragons to enter his sanctuary while Luna was telling Bella something that was obviously amusing Draco's aunt as the witch could barely contain her laughter.

Ten minutes later a house elf appeared to announce that dinner was served. The group all entered the magnificently decorated dining room and took their seats around the large table. As dinner was served conversation flowed and soon everyone was enjoying themselves.

* * *

Harry paced the floor in the room he was sharing with Dean and Seamus. He had given Tonks another chance to back out of her plan but the witch had still not budged, instead she had gotten quite angry with Harry and told him he either supported them or Voldemort and he should pick a side. Seeing as Tonks had made this declaration in front of everyone Harry felt he had little choice but to back the witch in her plans.

Harry was currently trying to think of ways to contact Hermione, the plan was set and in less than an hour they would begin their attempt to break into Azkaban. Harry wanted the message to be anonymous as he wasn't sure he wanted Voldemort to know he was involved in the night's activities in case he decided to flee. Harry had debated a few methods of delivering a message but so far he was failing to find a solution. Using his patronus was out as that would immediately give his identity away. An owl seemed the obvious solution but so far he hadn't seen one in residence and didn't want to arouse suspicion by asking for one.

Harry paced for a few more minutes before a potential solution came into his head, Dobby. Harry had no idea where the house elf was or even if he was still alive as he hadn't seen him since school when Dumbledore had offered him a job at Hogwarts. Harry wasn't even sure if the elf still had access to the Manor but it was worth a try as he was fresh out of ideas.

Harry hurriedly scribbled a note to Hermione telling her about the breakout. With a quick spell he disguised his handwriting so the entire note was written in printed block letters. Harry was just about to call for Dobby when he remembered how loud and excitable the elf was, so instead Harry cast a silencing spell around the room before summoning the elf.

"Dobby." Harry called, he really had no idea if he could summon the elf as he technically didn't own Dobby.

Harry called a few more times when he didn't get an immediate response. Harry sighed and sat down on his bed giving up when a pop sounded beside him and Dobby suddenly appeared.

"Harry Potter." Dobby squeaked, throwing himself at Harry. "Dobby thought you was dead."

"I know." Harry said, patting the elf on the back awkwardly. "Dobby I need to ask you to do me a favour, but it has to remain a secret no-one must ever know."

"Dobby understands. Dobby keeps Harry Potter's secrets." Dobby nodded solemnly.

"Can you still gain access to Malfoy Manor?" Harry asked.

"Yes, Dobby has a sister that work's there." Dobby said, shaking his head and wringing his small hands together. "But Manor is bad place, Dobby not allowed there."

"I need you to go there for me." Harry said. "I need you to give this letter to one of the elves and tell them to deliver it."

Harry handed Dobby the letter and the small creature grabbed onto it and cradled it against his chest.

"Dobby does as Harry Potter wants." Dobby said. "Dobby gives letter to sister."

"Thanks Dobby." Harry smiled at the elf. "But be careful, make sure no-one sees you and don't say who gave you the letter."

"I will. Goodbye, Harry Potter." Dobby said before he dissapparated with a crack.

Harry sighed and ran his hands through his hair, he had done all he could do, now he just had to wait and see if Hermione receives the message in time to stop the breakout.

* * *

Dobby apparated into a dark corner of the house elves living quarters at Malfoy Manor. Finding his sister's bed Dobby sat down to wait for his sister, hoping she wouldn't be long. Dobby couldn't risk being seeing in the main part of the Manor as he wasn't supposed to be in the large house that he had once served in.

Dobby sat for nearly an hour before his sister suddenly appeared in the room.

"Dobby." His sister, Suzy, squeaked surprised to see her brother.

"Suzy, you must give this letter to someone." Dobby whispered, pushing the letter into her hands. "Don't mention me, please."

Before Suzy had time to protest or ask any questions Dobby dissapparated leaving Suzy alone with an envelope in her hand. Suzy looked at the envelope in her hands to see who it's addressed to. HERMIONE, was written across the front in block capitals.

Suzy's bit her lip, today is Mistress Hermione's and Master Draco's anniversary but it was dinner time and Mistress Narcissa had said that they weren't to be interrupted. Suzy eventually put the envelope in her pocket and hurried back to her chores, deciding to wait until after dinner before giving Mistress Hermione the letter.

* * *

Hermione and Draco's anniversary dinner was a big success, everyone was comfortable with each other and everything ran smoothly. After a wonderfully organised dinner, where everything was either Draco or Hermione's favourite, the group re-located to the front room.

Lucius handed the drinks round and people broke into several groups, discussing various things. Luna and Pansy cornered Hermione and demanded to hear everything about Paris while Theo, Draco and Charlie got into a conversation about an upcoming Quidditch match. Voldemort, Severus and Lucius talked business while Narcissa and Bella talked about Scorpius and Narcissa's wish for more grandchildren.

Everyone was so busy talking that no-one noticed the elf slip into the room, until Hermione felt a small hand on her leg.

"What is it Suzy?" Hermione asked the nervous looking elf.

"I've got a letter for Mistress." Suzy squeaked thrusting the letter at Hermione and disappearing.

Everyone was staring at Hermione, bemused by the house elf's odd behaviour.

"Who's it from?" Pansy asked, leaning over Hermione's shoulder and looking at the envelope in her hands.

"I have no idea." Hermione said, ripping into the letter. As Hermione opened the piece of parchment she angled her body away from Pansy slightly as she hated people reading over her shoulder.

Hermione opened the letter, her eyes widening in shock as she read the contents. Horrified by what she was seeing Hermione shook her head and read the letter again, unfortunately reading the same thing.

"What is it?" Draco asked, moving to his wife's side and taking the parchment out of her hands. Like Hermione, Draco looked totally shocked by what he was reading. "Shit."

Draco immediately took the letter to show to Voldemort who growled deeply when he read the letter.

"What's happening?" Bella asked, annoyed by the secrecy.

"The letter says that The Order has been reformed and Azkaban is about to be broken into." Draco told his aunt.

The whole room stood in shock as they all contemplated what this meant, if it was true then it was more than likely there would be another war. Charlie and Luna especially looked stunned as they had heard nothing of a re-forming of the Order.

"We need to get to Azkaban, now." Voldemort said, throwing the letter onto an antique coffee table. "Draco, Severus, Lucius and Theo come with me."

"What about me?" Bella demanded, standing in front of Voldemort.

"You can come as well Bella." Voldemort said, not having time to argue with his lover.

Hermione was also about to protest about her omission when Draco appeared in front of her.

"You're staying here." Draco told his wife, knowing exactly what she was about to stay. "Until we know what's going on, I want you to stay here where it's safe."

"I'm perfectly capable of looking after myself." Hermione said, annoyed about Draco's protectiveness but understanding it at the same time.

"I know you are, baby." Draco said softly, cupping Hermione's cheek in his hand. "I just want you to stay here until we know what's happening."

"Draco." Voldemort called from the other side of the room where everyone was waiting to leave.

"Be careful." Hermione said, giving Draco a kiss before letting him go to The Dark Lord's side.

With a nod of his head Voldemort and his Death Eaters apparated out of the room heading to Azkaban, leaving their loved ones behind to worry about them. Hermione hated the feeling of being so out of the loop and unsure of what was going on, she had no idea how Narcissa had coped all these years with Lucius, Draco and Bella all fighting alongside Voldemort.

As conversation got underway about what was happening Hermione sunk down on the sofa and picked up the short letter that had just disturbed their night and potentially ruined their lives. Hermione re-read the letter, looking for a clue as to who had sent it. Unfortunately whoever had sent it had disguised their writing so it was in block letters with no clues as to their identity.

"Can I have a look?" Charlie asked, sitting next to Hermione.

Hermione handed him the letter and Charlie read the two sentences that had rocked the night's festivities; THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX HAS BEEN RE-FORMED. AZKABAN WILL BE BROKEN INTO TONIGHT.

"I really hope Fred and George haven't gotten themselves involved in this." Charlie sighed, reading the note and finding no clue as to who wrote it.

"What if they have?" Hermione asked, wondering if Charlie would now turn against her and her family.

"I don't know, but I suppose it's their mess to sort out. I want nothing to do with the Order and any rebellion they may form." Charlie said forcefully, causing the entire room to look at him.

"Me neither." Luna said, talking directly to Hermione. "I'm happy with my life and have no intention of turning my back on you."

Hermione smiled at her two friends before she stood up. "I'm going to get changed, no matter what happens at Azkaban it's going to be a long night."

Hermione left the room to change out of her dress while Narcissa called for more refreshments. No-one else bothered about getting changed as they wouldn't be actively involved in whatever happened over the course of the night, unlike Hermione who would likely be busy for hours.

Hermione wandered into Scorpius' nursery on her way back to the bedroom to change. After checking on her sleeping son, Hermione asked Daisy to spend the night with Scorpius before she left to get changed. Hermione wanted Daisy to stay with Scorpius because she had no idea what time her and Draco would be able to retire to their own wing.

Stepping out of her dress Hermione caught sight of herself in the mirror, she was wearing new lingerie she had bought in Paris as a treat for Draco. Hermione quickly threw on some jeans and a top, forgetting about the night of passion she had planned on sharing with her husband in the hopes of creating a new life. Instead she would be spending the night trying to figure out what had happened with the Order and how they had re-formed.


	11. Chapter 11

After sending the message to Hermione Harry had debated whether to abandon the Order there and then but minutes after Dobby had dissapparated Dean had come into the room and practically dragged Harry downstairs so he could be involved in the planning. Harry hadn't had a moment alone since and now he found himself swept along with the Order and their plan to break into Azkaban.

Harry was currently sitting in the back of the boat, his wand gripped tightly in his hand. He hoped that Dobby had managed to deliver the message to Hermione. If he had he now just had to wait and see if it had reached her in time. Harry felt bad for betraying his friends by revealing what was happening but he was hoping that a war could be prevented. Harry knew it was a lot to ask for Voldemort to be lenient towards the Order a second time but he figured he would be more likely to be lenient now rather than after an unnecessary war.

Harry had no idea where they were or if they were even heading in the right direction as all he could see around him was dark cold water. Half an hour ago they had set sail from a small coastal town in the North East of England. Tonks had made all the plans and Harry had just gone along with things, wishing he could have left already. Harry had even volunteered to stay back at Headquarters but Tonks had insisted he come as his patronus was one of the strongest.

"There it is." A voice from the front of the boat brought Harry's attention back to the current mission.

Up ahead Harry could see the dark foreboding spectre of Azkaban. Harry had only seen the prison in pictures and found it much more intimidating in real life. Harry was also surprised by the lack of Dementors surrounding the building, there was only a dozen or so. Harry knew the prison wasn't as secure as it once had been but he was still shocked by the small number of Dementors that were present.

"Is everyone clear on what they'll be doing?" Tonks asked as the boat drew closer to Azkaban.

There were murmurs of reassurance as the group raised their wands. With a shout of instruction from Tonks everyone cast the patronus charm. Harry watched as the multiple silvery animal patronus forms attacked the Dementors, driving them away from Azkaban.

While everyone else was driving the Dementors away Tonks was breaking through the wards surrounding the prison, as a former Auror she was the best qualified to do the job. Once she was satisfied that the wards were down she tried to apparate onto the rocks in front of the prison. Tonks safe arrival on the rocks was the cue for everyone else to apparate to the prison and start evacuating prisoners.

The moment Tonks appeared on the rocks, everyone else started apparating over to the prison in small clusters. The majority of people headed inside Azkaban to rescue people while a small contingent stayed outside to keep the Dementors away.

Harry was part of the group that stayed outside as his patronus was one of the strongest. Tonks also stayed outside but Harry knew that Fred and George were in charge of the operation inside and that they would contact Tonks once everyone was safely back at Order headquarters.

The whole time he was outside making sure his patronus kept the Dementors away Harry kept an eye out for Voldemort and his Death Eaters. Nearly half an hour after they had arrived Tonks pulled a galleon that had been used back in the days of the D.A out of her pocket.

"They're all safe. It's time to return home." Tonks shouted to the small group that were standing on the rocks surrounding Azkaban.

As soon as Tonks spoke, people started dropping their wands and apparating back to headquarters. Harry was the last to leave, wondering if Hermione had even received his message.

Harry arrived back to Headquarters to absolute pandemonium, that only got worse once people spotted him. Everyone who had been imprisoned were shocked to see Harry and explanations were flying round the room as Harry was smothered by people wanting to touch him and prove he was really there.

Harry was desperate to leave the house as the more he was present the more he was regretting his part in proceedings. Once Harry realised that Voldemort wasn't going to show at Azkaban Harry had decided it was time for him to leave. He had already done far more than he should have done to encourage and support this upcoming war and Harry wanted no further part in anything else that the Order did.

It soon became obvious to Harry that people wouldn't be happy about him walking out as he had heard more than one person speaking badly about Neville who had left earlier. Despite it being the cowardly way out, Harry decided he would leave once everyone was asleep. He would leave a note explaining things but hopefully he could get away without anyone seeing him and a fight breaking out.

* * *

Voldemort and his Death Eaters apparated straight into Azkaban on the ground floor. When the wards were present they automatically allowed anyone with a dark mark to pass the wards without incident.

"Draco?" Voldemort turned to Draco. He didn't need to ask any specific questions to his second in command as the blond man would know exactly what he wanted to know.

"The wards are down." Draco answered immediately. "And I'm pretty sure the Dementors are missing." He commented, noticing the lack of depressing atmosphere.

"Check the prisoners." Voldemort growled, even though he wasn't expecting to find anyone still in residence.

Bella, Severus, Lucius and Theo rushed off to obey The Dark Lord's orders, leaving Draco and Voldemort alone. With a nod of the head from Voldemort, him and Draco headed to the front entrance of the prison.

Standing outside the pair looked around at the lack of Dementors, wondering how the prison was broken into. It had been Voldemort's decision to scale back security on the prison as he didn't see any threat but now he was thinking he had made a mistake. While Voldemort stood in the doorway wondering what other mistakes he had made Draco was prowling around the rocks looking for an answer as to how the breakout was achieved.

"Look at that." Draco shouted, drawing The Dark Lord's attention to a boat bobbing in the distance.

"That's how they did it." Voldemort muttered more to himself than to Draco.

Heading back inside the prison Voldemort and Draco waited for everyone else to return. Within minutes the rest of the group returned with the news that the prison was empty.

"Let's get back to the Manor." Voldemort said with a shake of a head.

* * *

Hermione had only been back in the front room for a few minutes when everyone reappeared in the room. It was obvious to everyone left behind in the Manor that they had been too late to prevent the breakout from Azkaban by the sombre atmosphere.

Theo immediately hurried to Pansy's side while Lucius gave Narcissa a sharp nod to her unspoken question. Draco frowned slightly when he noticed Hermione had been changed but he didn't comment, instead he quietly asked about Scorpius. After reassuring her husband that their son were perfectly safe in his nursery Hermione turned to face Voldemort.

"What happens now?" She asked. The entire room turned to Voldemort waiting to see how he answered Hermione's question.

"For now, Theo and Pansy and Charlie and Luna go home while we do some more investigating." Voldemort said.

"I can stay and help." Theo said from beside Pansy.

"No, there's no need." Voldemort shook his head. "Go home to your family. I'll probably call a meeting tomorrow."

Slightly disappointed not to be included any more Theo said goodbye to the group and left with Pansy to return to their own house. As Luna said goodbye to everyone, Charlie moved so he was standing in front of Voldemort.

"I want you to know that Luna and I knew nothing of what was happening." Charlie said to the dark wizard in front of him.

"I know." Voldemort said. "If I thought for one minute you were involved I wouldn't be letting you leave."

Charlie looked surprised by Voldemort's immediate trust of him and Luna. After also reassuring The Dark Lord they had no plans to join the newly re-formed Order, Charlie and Luna also left the Manor.

Once it was just the family left they all sat down to discuss what was going to happen next.

"Was everyone gone?" Hermione asked once everyone was settled.

"Yes, the prison was empty." Severus said.

"How did they break in?" Narcissa questioned.

"They used a boat." Draco said, explaining what they had found outside the prison walls. "And the security isn't the tightest anymore."

"It will be from now on." Voldemort snapped. "I want more wards round the place and a full contingent of Dementors constantly in action."

"Will we still need Azkaban?" Bella asked.

"Yes, everyone who escaped needs either re-capturing or killing. As do everyone who is part of the new Order." Voldemort said firmly. This time there would be no second chances for the Order.

"What do we do now?" Lucius asked.

"There's a long list of things to do over the next couple of days but for tonight there's only a few jobs that need attending to." Voldemort said. "Lucius and Hermione, I want you two to check on every member of the Order that kept their magic. We need to know if everyone joined or if some people refused or even if there were some that weren't offered the chance. Severus and Draco, I want you two to check on everyone who lost their magic and see if they are somehow involved in what's happening."

"Do you honestly think they can be? They have no magic or memories?" Draco asked, even though he was thinking about the prowler from a few weeks ago.

"I don't know, but we need to know for sure. If they are involved we have to discover how they regained their memories and magic." Voldemort said.

As Draco, Hermione, Severus and Lucius prepared to leave for their missions Bella turned to her lover, angry that she was once again forgotten about as he handed out orders.

"I haven't forgotten you, Bella." Voldemort said before the angry witch had a chance to speak. "You're coming with me, there's some things we need to check out."

Bella nodded, satisfied that she had a part to play in the investigation that was about to take place.

"We'll all meet back here as soon as we've finished." Voldemort said.

Voldemort then held his arm out to Bella and once the witch had a firm grip on his arm he apparated away. Everyone else quickly followed after him, once everyone had said a quick goodbye to each other.

Narcissa watched in silence as nearly everyone she cared about apparated out of the Manor, first her sister and Voldemort then her husband, son and daughter-in-law all left along with Severus.

Narcissa had barely spoken since the letter had arrived earlier in the night and she had made sure that no-one noticed how distressed she was. The thought of another war terrified the witch, her whole family had been involved last time and they had very nearly lost Draco that night at Hogwarts. Narcissa knew that it would be the same this time and that she would constantly be worrying about the safety of her family and what would happen if one of them failed to survive.

Not wanting to be alone where she would just sit worrying about what was happening Narcissa stood up and headed upstairs to see her grandson. Arriving in Scorpius' nursery Narcissa dismissed the house elf and informed her she would call if she needed anything.

Scorpius was fast asleep so Narcissa sat by his crib watching him rather than pick him up and disturb him. Narcissa watched Scorpius sleep, thinking about how much like Draco he looked. He had the same pale complexion, the same platinum blond hair and the same grey eyes that her son had. The only real difference was his features weren't as sharp and defined as Draco's, he had Hermione's small nose and her mouth.

Narcissa started to wonder if she would get anymore grandchildren. She knew that Draco and Hermione wanted more children and lately she had been hoping that it would be happening soon but if another war was to break out she couldn't imagine her son and his wife wanting to bring another child into the world.

Narcissa could only hope that this rebellion was stopped early and that their lives could go back to normal.


	12. Chapter 12

Hermione had taken charge with her and Lucius' mission. Lucius had no idea where any member of the Order lived so Hermione had to apparate them to each house in turn.

Hermione started by visiting Fred and George at their flat above their shop. She was hoping the twins wouldn't be involved as she knew it would be difficult for Charlie if they were. Unfortunately there was no response when Hermione knocked on the door.

"Are we going in?" Lucius asked.

"Yes. It's the only way to tell if they're just out or have left for good." Hermione sighed, stepping away from the door.

Lucius stepped up to the door and unlocked it, leading the way into the small flat. Hermione followed her father-in-law into the flat and they split up to search the premises.

"I can't tell if they've gone for good or are just out." Hermione said after they had conducted a search.

The flat was neat and tidy but there were a lot of Fred and George's belongings still sitting around the flat. Hermione was struggling to tell if there was anything significant missing because she hadn't been to the twins flat since before she had changed sides in the last war.

"I think they've gone." Lucius said emerging from the kitchen. "There's no food in the kitchen."

"Maybe they need to do a shop. The twins weren't exactly the most domesticated of people." Hermione said.

"I don't mean they need to stock up on food, I mean there's not one single bit of food in the flat." Lucius said.

Hermione headed into the kitchen and began searching through the fridge and numerous cupboards. Lucius was right, everything was empty. Hermione sighed in disappointment, form the evidence it looked like Fred and George had joined the Order.

"We should move on." Hermione said, leaving the flat.

Lucius relocked the door, just in case they were wrong and Fred and George were just out. Hermione held out her hand for Lucius and once he had grabbed hold she apparated them to the next destination.

After nearly half an hour of checking on the Order and finding empty houses Hermione and Lucius found themselves standing in Tonks' house. This was the first place where it was obvious at a glance that Tonks had left, there was very little evidence that the witch had lived there and even less so to indicate she had a young child.

"Why would Tonks get involved in this when she has a baby?" Hermione mused as she stood in what was obviously Teddy's room.

"Maybe he's the reason she got involved." Lucius suggested as he entered the room. "Maybe she wants to avenge the fact he's growing up without a father."

"Maybe. But there's now a strong possibility that Teddy will grow up without both parents." Hermione pointed out.

Hermione was struggling to understand Tonks agreeing to be part of the Order and risking her life. It had only been a few hours since this new rebellion was brought to their attention but Hermione was already scared about Scorpius and what would happen to him if anything happened to either her or Draco. Hermione just couldn't understand how Tonks could put any need for vengeance or anything else above the safety and wellbeing of her son.

"Is there anyone else to check on?" Lucius asked.

"No." Hermione shook her head. "The only other people to keep their magic were Charlie, Luna and Luna's father."

"Do you think we need to check on Xeno Lovegood?" Lucius said.

"No, but I would like to visit Charlie and tell him that we think Fred and George are involved." Hermione said.

Lucius considered arguing as The Dark Lord hadn't mentioned talking to Charlie but he knew Hermione well enough to know that if she was determined to do something she would do it.

"I'll see you back at home, don't be long." Lucius said.

"I won't." Hermione said before she apparated away.

Lucius left the house and locked it up like he had done with all the other buildings they had visited. He had no idea whether anyone would return to their houses but it was probably better if they did return that there was no evidence of anyone ever being inside the houses. Once the house was secure Lucius headed back to the Manor, hoping to get Narcissa on her own for a few minutes and reassure her that their family was safe.

* * *

Draco paced Harry's front room cursing himself for not telling Voldemort about his recent suspicions involving Potter. When Draco and Severus apparated away from the Manor they had headed directly to Harry's, both understanding that he was the most important person to check on.

"There's nothing major missing, but my gut says he's gone." Severus announced, walking back into the front room. "What I don't understand is how they even knew Potter was still alive."

"I have no idea." Draco said, he had wondered the same thing himself. "There's also the question of how they returned people's memories and if they managed to return their magic as well."

"Do you think it's possible for them to have their magic back?" Severus asked.

"I don't know, but without it they're not exactly much help are they." Draco pointed out.

"True, but until we check we don't know how many other people are involved." Severus said.

"If Potter's gone then so has everyone else." Draco said. "It would have been a lot easier to find the rest of the Order."

"True." Severus said. "I still can't believe this is happening, it's all so sudden and unexpected."

"Maybe not." Draco said quietly.

"What do you mean, maybe not?" Severus asked, wondering about his godson's cryptic words.

Draco sat down on the sofa and began to tell Severus about his recent suspicions of Potter. Severus listened as Draco described how Hermione thought there was someone watching the Manor. Severus could tell from the way Draco was talking that he blamed himself for not trusting his instinct and telling Voldemort about his suspicions.

"There was nothing you could have done, Draco." Severus said once Draco had finished talking. "You had no proof Potter was at the Manor, in fact you still don't. And there was no reason to suspect anything was wrong, when you checked up on him."

"Maybe, but if I'd said something we might have looked into Potter's life more thoroughly." Draco said.

"And you might not have. There's a good chance The Dark Lord would have just dismissed it, all you had was a feeling." Severus said, trying to reassure Draco that the night's events weren't his fault. "I suggest you forget all about it and we concentrate on the job in hand. We have to return home and check on everybody else."

Draco nodded and stood up. "Should we start with Longbottom?" He asked his godfather.

Severus nodded and the two men apparated back to England and began their investigation into the other members of the Order that were supposedly living as muggles.

* * *

Bellatrix hurried after Voldemort as he strode up the pathway leading to the front door of Hogwarts. As soon as they landed just outside the boundary line of the school Bella had realised what her lover wanted to check on. After Potter's defeat and the battle at Hogwarts, Voldemort had decided to return the diadem Horcrux to the school. Bella had tried to tell The Dark Lord that it would be safer in their house or in her vault at Gringotts but Voldemort had insisted it should remain in the school.

Voldemort reached the front doors and pulled them open, entering the school and heading straight up the stairs. Bella followed silently as Voldemort reached the Room of Requirement and wrenched open the door when it appeared in front of him. Bella waited in the doorway as Voldemort hurried into the room and towards the back corner.

The roar of anger that Voldemort let out a few minutes after entering the room told Bella that the diadem was missing. She had always said that employing a former member of the Order at Hogwarts was a dangerous idea but Severus and Voldemort had insisted it was perfectly safe.

"It's gone." Voldemort said as he reappeared beside Bella. "We need to check Gringotts."

"It's a Sunday night, Gringotts won't be open." Bella pointed out.

"I'm sure they'll let us in." Voldemort said, sweeping past Bella and heading for the front doors.

Bellatrix once again trailed after Voldemort and once they were outside the school's boundary lines they apparated to Diagon Alley. While Bellatrix waited at the front of the bank Voldemort headed to the side of the building where a small door was situated. The goblins were extremely security conscious and there was always a small number of them that slept on the property.

Once Voldemort had woken a goblin he ordered them to open the bank before he headed back to the front of the building. Voldemort had just arrived at Bella's side when the large doors squeaked open, revealing a grumpy looking goblin wearing a dressing gown.

The goblin led them to the front desk where he examined Bella's wand before escorting them into the depths of the bank. After her divorce from Rodolphus, Bella had transferred her belongings from the Lestrange vault to a vault in her maiden name. Among the many treasures she housed in her bank vault was the cup Horcrux which she had been looking after for several years.

As soon as Bella's vault was opened Voldemort darted inside to check on the cup. He was relieved to see it was safe sitting on the top shelf of the vault.

"Should we take it with us?" Bella asked, wondering if the cup would be safer in their possession.

"No, it's safe here." Voldemort said. "But I'll put a few extra protective curses on it just in case."

Voldemort removed his wand from his robes and began casting charms and curses on the silver cup. He half wished he had either Draco or Hermione with him as both were skilled in protective charms and could have bolstered his own spells. Once he was finished he told the goblin to lock up the vault and they returned to the main part of the bank.

"Back to the Manor?" Bella asked once they were outside.

Voldemort paused as he thought, he really should check on Nagini but because his snake was at home he would know if the wards around his property had been breached. "Yes." Voldemort finally said, deciding Nagini would be fine for another hour or so.

* * *

"Who wants to go first." Voldemort asked.

Everyone had returned to the Manor and apart from Narcissa, who had already retired for the night, they were gathered in the dining room to discuss the night's events.

"We will." Hermione said. "Apart from Luna, Charlie and Xeno it seems that everyone has joined the Order again."

"You're sure?" Voldemort asked, he wanted to be exact with his information.

"As sure as we can be. In most cases there's no obvious sign that they've left their property permanently but everywhere was empty and the houses had a deserted feel about them." Lucius said.

"Fine, we'll take it that everyone has re-joined." Voldemort nodded at Hermione and Lucius before he turned his attention to Draco and Severus. "What about those without magic?"

"There was only three people left in residence." Draco said. "Bill and Fleur Weasley and Neville Longbottom."

Hermione looked shocked at the exclusion of Neville, she wondered if he wasn't asked for some reason or if he refused to re-join the Order. It made sense that Charlie, Luna and Xeno weren't asked as they were close with Hermione but leaving out Neville seemed odd to Hermione

"Why would them three not be part of things?" Bella asked, curious as to why there were people not involved in the rebellion.

"I don't know." Draco shrugged. "The Weasley couple have a young daughter, that could be their motivation in turning the Order down. I have no idea about Longbottom, though."

"Tomorrow we need to discover if the three of them were approached and they turned them down or if they were never approached for some reason." Voldemort said.

"What happens if they were approached and turned the Order down? Surely that means they have their memories back." Hermione asked, wondering if Voldemort would continue to let them live their muggle lives.

"If they turned the Order down, they can continue with their lives. We can either remove their memories again or we can sort out some way for them to live in our world." Voldemort said, reassuring Hermione that he wouldn't turn on people who had refused to fight against them. "And if for some reason they were never approached then we don't have any problems."

"We also need to discover if there's some sort of antidote to the magic stripping potion." Draco said.

"There probably will be." Severus said, adding his expert advice on potion making. "Very few potions have no antidote."

"That's yet another thing we need to investigate tomorrow. But for now I think we should all retire for the night." Voldemort said. "Draco, Hermione could you both stay for a while, there's something I need to discuss with the pair of you."

Draco and Hermione stayed in their seats, shooting each other puzzled looks, as everyone else stood up and began to exit the room. Voldemort said something quietly to Bella before she left, then he turned round to face the curious couple.


	13. Chapter 13

Voldemort shut the dining room's door behind him and returned to his seat at the long table. Draco and Hermione were still sitting in their seats wondering what on earth was going on.

Voldemort cleared his throat before he spoke, breaking the silence that had descended on the room. "I'm going to get right to the point. I'm giving you both the opportunity to walk away from this upcoming rebellion with no consequences."

"You don't want us." Hermione said quietly.

"I do, I want you both." Voldemort shook his head. He had noticed a brief look of hurt flicker over Draco's face before he managed to school his features but Hermione had no such control and he could see she was hurt by his comments. "But things are different for the pair of you now, you have Scorpius to think about. I just want you to know that you don't have to fight for me."

"What if we want to?" Draco asked, his voice displaying no emotions.

"Then that's great. But you have to realise that there will be no second chances this time." Voldemort spoke directly to Hermione as he didn't want the witch harbouring any false hopes regarding the fate of everyone who was rebelling against him. "I gave the Order a chance to live a normal life and they've thrown it back in my face. This time there will be no mercy, those that aren't killed will be imprisoned for life."

"I understand." Hermione said. She had been expecting Voldemort to take a much tougher stance this time.

"You don't have to make any final decisions now, talk it over and let me know your decision tomorrow." Voldemort told the couple. "I'll completely understand if you decide to leave."

Voldemort stood up and after saying a final goodbye he left the dining room leaving a stunned Draco and Hermione staring after him.

* * *

Voldemort arrived back at his own house a few minutes after leaving Draco and Hermione. He was hoping that the couple would stay and support him but he cared about them too much not to have made them the offer.

"Is everything alright?" Bella asked when Voldemort entered the main bedroom.

Voldemort immediately went over to the roaring fire and checked on Nagini, who was sleeping peacefully in her basket, before he turned to face his lover who was standing by the windows.

"Yes, I was just giving Draco and Hermione a chance to leave before things get more serious." Voldemort said, sitting on the end of the bed.

"What?" Bella screeched. "Why would you do that? Draco's your right hand man."

"Things are different now, Bella. They have a family." Voldemort said.

"So do lots of your followers, you don't offer for them to sit battles out." Bella said.

"They are not family though." Voldemort pointed out. He knew that Bella was aware of how fond he was of Draco and even Hermione who had impressed him with her change of allegiance during the last war.

"Did they take the offer?" Bella asked, sitting on the chair by the window.

"No. But I told them to talk it through, they'll have a final decision for me tomorrow."

Bella looked at Voldemort for a long time, studying her lover's body language. Voldemort had been tense and on edge since the note was received and Bella thought that there was something he wasn't telling her.

"Is that the only thing bothering you?" Bella asked, deciding she might as well try and get Voldemort to open up to her.

Voldemort looked at Bella, surprised that the witch could tell there was something bothering him past the fact the Order had re-formed and that he could potentially lose Draco and Hermione as part of his army.

"No. I think I've made a very big mistake." Voldemort said eventually.

"What?" Bella asked, moving so she was sitting next to Voldemort on the bed.

"Harry Potter's still alive."

"He can't be. You killed him, I saw the body." Bella said, shaking her head as she struggled to accept what Voldemort was saying.

"That's what everyone was supposed to think but I let him live." Voldemort said as he then explained about what had happened the night of the battle at Hogwarts and over the course of the next few weeks.

"So he was one of the people Draco and Severus were checking on tonight." Bella said.

"Yes, and he's gone. With him the Order will be so much more confident and harder to break." Voldemort sighed.

"You can't possibly think they can defeat you." Bella said, shocked by how down Voldemort seemed. "They were useless before, they couldn't even identify all your Horcrux's."

"What if they can this time, I now only have two left." Voldemort said, looking at Nagini.

Bella was slightly confused by the numbers, she had always thought Voldemort had four Horcrux's left after the war. Even with the loss of the diadem he should still have had three not two.

Voldemort spotted Bella's confusion as she tried to work out his remaining Horcrux's. "Potter was one. I only figured it out when I realised he could get into my mind. The spell I used to make it look like I killed him, destroyed the Horcrux."

"So you made him into a Horcrux by accident and deliberately destroyed it yourself." Bella said, sounding confused.

"Yes." Voldemort shrugged. "I figured it didn't matter about destroying a Horcrux as there was no threat."

"As stupid as that was it doesn't really matter." Bella said. She wasn't sure if it was a wise idea to insult Voldemort but she felt it needed pointing out how idiotic he had been. "There's no way they can get to the cup and they have no idea about Nagini."

"True." Voldemort said. Him, Bella and Draco were the only people who knew of the cup's whereabouts and him and Bella were the only two who knew about Nagini.

"Why did you let Potter live?" Bella asked once she was satisfied she had reassured Voldemort about his Horcrux's.

Voldemort explained why he had let Harry live. Bella snorted at the explanation and stood up.

"You underestimated Hermione." She said. "It may have taken her longer but she would have gotten over it. All she wanted was to be with Draco, he would have helped her cope."

As Bella headed into the bathroom, Voldemort sat and pondered on his lover's words. Maybe she was right and he had underestimated Hermione, he had always felt that the death of her best friend would destroy her and cause pain for Draco. But maybe if she had been given time she could have recovered and things wouldn't be in the mess they were currently in.

* * *

After Voldemort had left Hermione and Draco headed back to their own wing, each contemplating The Dark Lord's shocking offer. Before they entered their bedroom they checked on Scorpius and dismissed Daisy for the night, the elf had returned to watch Scorpius when Narcissa left the nursery just over an hour ago.

Hermione and Draco got washed and ready for bed in silence, neither ready to talk about The Dark Lord's offer. It wasn't until they both climbed into bed that Draco finally broke the silence.

"Are we going to talk about this or just ignore it." He said once they were both in bed.

"I suppose we should talk about it." Hermione said.

"How about we start with you telling me how you feel about the offer and what we should do." Draco said. He wanted to hear Hermione's opinions before he shared his own.

Hermione tutted at having to go first, she knew that Draco had an opinion but he wanted to hear hers first.

"Honestly, I'm confused." Hermione admitted. "Part of me thinks we should accept his offer, take Scorpius and run before things get bad."

"And the other part." Draco prompted.

"The other part thinks we should stay and fight. Our family is not just me, you and Scorpius. There's your mother and father, Bella, Severus, even The Dark lord. And don't forget Pansy, Theo and Jasmine and Luna and Charlie."

Draco smiled at Hermione, everything she had just said had ran through his head. The problem was he wasn't sure which side to listen to, should they be selfish and only think of themselves and Scorpius or should they think of everyone they cared for.

"That's exactly how I feel." Draco said. "Now we need to decide which way to go."

"I think we should stay." Hermione said softly. "I'm just worried about Scorpius. What'll happen to him if things go wrong?"

"Nothing will go wrong." Draco said, pulling Hermione into his side. "If we stay we'll help stop this rebellion before it goes too far."

"What if we can't and another war breaks out?" Hermione questioned.

"Then we send Scorpius and mother to our island. We can even send Pansy and Jasmine as well." Draco said, hoping things wouldn't get that serious.

Hermione nodded thoughtfully. It was a brilliant idea and at the first sign of danger Hermione would send Narcissa and Scorpius to safety. The idea of letting Pansy and Jasmine go as well was one that appealed to Hermione, she could even let Luna go if she wanted to.

"So we stay?" Hermione asked.

"We stay." Draco said. He was confident they had made the right decision.

"Who do you think sent me that note tonight?" Hermione asked after a few minutes silence.

"I have no idea." Draco said. "It doesn't really make sense, why join the Order then warn us what's happening?"

"That's what I was wondering. Maybe it's someone who's having doubts." Hermione said.

"It's still an odd thing to do." Draco said.

"I hope if it is someone having doubts they have the sense to get out before things go too far." Hermione said.

Draco wondered if anyone in the Order would actually have the nerve to abandon the rest of the group. They must realise that The Dark Lord would now know what was happening so there was no way to return to their normal lives. Their only escape would be to run, but Draco wasn't sure if anyone in the Order would be willing to live their life on the run.

Hermione lay resting her head on Draco's shoulder while she thought about events of the night and who could be behind the note. The obvious answer was Harry but despite their conversation after the final battle Hermione wasn't really sure if Harry had forgiven her enough to warn her of the danger. Hermione also would have considered Neville as he wasn't very hostile towards her after the war but he wasn't part of the plans and was still living his life as a muggle.

Hermione started wondering about Neville, Bill and Fleur keeping out of things didn't surprise her as they had a young child but she was shocked by Neville's exclusion. Hermione couldn't see any reason why the Order wouldn't contact Neville so the only thing she could think of was that he had turned down the offer to re-join for some reason.

"Who do you think the ringleader is?" Draco asked, pulling Hermione's away from her contemplation.

"I don't know. It would take serious skill and dedication to reform the Order." Hermione said as she mentally ran through a list of people trying to find someone who could have reassembled the Order.

"And serious motivation." Draco said. "Whoever did this obviously wasn't content with the second chance they got."

Draco's words brought a face into Hermione's head, Tonks. The witch was skilled enough to return people's memories, she had enough free time to search for the missing Order members and she had only kept her magic because she was pregnant at the time. Hermione was finding it hard to believe that Tonks would willingly start a war and endanger her son but the more she thought about it the more she was convinced that it had been Tonks who was the motivation behind the rebellion.

"We should get some sleep." Draco said. "It's going to be a busy few days as we investigate what's going on."

Hermione reached for her wand and flipped off the lights. Turning round she let Draco wrap her in his arms as the pair of them settled down to sleep. Draco fell asleep pretty quickly but Hermione lay awake in her husband's embrace for a long time as she thought about what had happened and what could potentially happen with this rebellion.


	14. Chapter 14

Breakfast at the Manor was normally just the immediate family but the morning after the breakout from Azkaban Voldemort, Bella and Severus were present for the meal.

When Draco and Hermione arrived in the dining room with Scorpius, Severus was already sitting at the table with Lucius and Narcissa. Bellatrix and Voldemort entered the room a few minutes after Draco and Hermione.

When he entered the room Voldemort looked at Draco asking him a silent question. Draco nodded once letting The Dark Lord know that him and Hermione were staying put. Voldemort smiled slightly and took his seat at the table next to Bella.

Breakfast was eaten in silence and when the meal was finished Narcissa excused herself from the room, taking Scorpius with her. Once Narcissa and Scorpius had left everyone turned to Voldemort waiting for what he was about to say.

"First of all I want to keep what happened yesterday quiet." Voldemort said. "Hopefully we can stop this rebellion quickly before it becomes public knowledge."

Everyone nodded in agreement, they all knew that things could quickly escalate into a full blown war if not handled correctly.

"Lucius and Bella I want you both to head to Azkaban. I want the Dementors back in full force and top security wards on each cell and around the entire building." Voldemort said to his lover and her brother-in-law. Ideally he would have liked either Draco or Hermione to handle the security but he had other plans for them today, hopefully one of them would have time another day to visit Azkaban and make sure the security was top notch.

Lucius and Bella both stood up and left the room, eager to make a start on what would be a long job. After they had left the room Voldemort turned to face Hermione.

"Sometime today I want you to visit the people from the muggle world who didn't re-join the Order. I want to know if they weren't offered the chance to re-join or if they refused. I also need to know if they have their memories or magic back."

"How do you want me to do that?" Hermione asked.

"You're supposed to be the smartest witch of your age, I'm sure you can think of something." Voldemort said to Hermione. "I'll leave you and Severus to sort out the best time for you to leave as I know you'll both be busy at the school today." Voldemort said.

"Is there anything else you need me to do?" Severus asked.

"No, not yet." Voldemort shook his head. "I know you've got stuff to sort at Hogwarts since you're now a Herbology Professor down."

"In that case, I'll be off. I can hopefully make a start on things." Severus said, rising from his seat. "Come and see me when you arrive at school." He added to Hermione before he left the room.

"Draco you and I will pay a visit to Miguel today. It's time to find out what he knows about the potion antidote." Voldemort said. "I'll meet you in the hallway in ten minutes."

Voldemort moved towards the door but before he left the room he turned to face the couple who were still sitting at the table. "Thank you both for staying." He said quietly before he hurriedly left the room.

"Do you have any idea how you're going to get the information from Longbottom and the Weasley's?" Draco asked, once they were alone.

"No, I'll think about it." Hermione said as they stood up. "I should go and see Severus."

Draco walked the few steps to where Hermione was standing and wrapped her in his arms. "Be careful, you don't know if the Order are watching them." He said.

"I'm always careful." Hermione said, pecking Draco on the lips. "I'll see you tonight."

Draco kissed Hermione properly before he released her from his embrace. Together they left the dining room and went their separate ways at the bottom of the staircase. Hermione headed upstairs to get her bag and say goodbye to Scorpius while Draco stayed in the hallway waiting for Voldemort to reappear from wherever he disappeared to.

* * *

Tonks awoke late to the sound of screaming and shouting. Groggily she sat up and looked around the room, trying to work out where the noise was coming from. She eventually decided the shouting was coming from downstairs as it was too faint for her to make out what was being said.

Tonks got out of bed and stretched before heading over to Teddy's small bed in the corner of the room. Tonks was initially worried when she spotted the empty bed until she spotted the folded bit of parchment with her name neatly written on the front. She recognised her mother's neat writing as she opened the short note and read the contents.

**_I've taken Teddy to get breakfast, I thought I'd let you sleep in as we had a long night. Love Mum._**

Tonks put the note to one side and began to get dressed. The previous night she had been up to the early hours talking with Andromeda and filling her in on Teddy and what she had missed of his young life.

By the time Tonks was fully dressed she could still hear the arguing going on downstairs. Tonks was curious about what was happening but she couldn't make out enough of what was being said to understand what had caused the furious arguments that were taking place.

Tonks left her room and the shouting became even louder. Heading down stairs she carefully listened to the arguments but she was still none the wiser as to what people were arguing about. From what she could hear it was just people hurling insults at each other. Tonks entered the front room to find most of the younger members of the Order in the room while insults were being thrown back and forth.

"What on earth is going on?" Tonks said loudly. Everyone stopped and turned to look at the witch standing in the doorway. "Well?" She prompted when nobody spoke.

Tonks was starting to get worried as there were a few people throwing her dirty looks. Tonks looked around the room as she waited for someone to answer her question. Eventually Cho stepped forward with a crumpled piece of parchment in her hand.

"This is the cause of all the problems." Cho said, thrusting the parchment at Tonks. "Seamus and Dean found it this morning."

Tonks looked at the parchment, her eyes widening in shock as she read the scribbled words on the page.

_**I'm sorry but I can't do this. I won't fight in a war I don't believe in. I should never have gotten involved and I'm sorry if my presence had given anyone false hope. I'm sorry I wasn't brave enough to leave earlier when I first started experiencing doubts but I've finally done the right thing and abandoned this quest for revenge. I'm sorry for the way I have left but it was for the best. I hope things work out for you all.**_

_**Harry.**_

Tonks re-read the letter several times as she tried to understand why Harry would suddenly leave. She knew he had been unsure the previous day about breaking into Azkaban but she never thought he would abandon them.

"Now do you get the problem?" Seamus called from the other side of the room. "Without Harry we're doomed. You've led us all to our deaths."

There was several voices that shouted agreement and backed up what Seamus just said.

"We can still win without Harry. He was just a bonus in our plans." Tonks said, still reeling from Harry's abandonment.

"Of course we can't win without Harry." Cho insisted. "He was the reason I re-joined the Order. I can't speak for anyone else but without Harry I never would have signed up for this."

"Does anyone else feel this way?" Tonks asked. She was shocked when the majority of the room either nodded their heads or raised their hands.

"I say we abandon this crazy idea of a revolt now." Terry said. Once again there were several people who voiced their support for Terry's idea.

Before Tonks had a chance to respond Molly Weasley had entered the room and stood in front of her and was facing the mainly unsatisfied group.

"That's impossible." Molly said, speaking forcefully. "By now Voldemort and his followers will know about the breakout. Try and go back to your old lives if you wish but I guarantee you that you will be killed or captured. You don't have a choice but to stay."

"We could run." Terry said.

"Go on run." Molly sneered, unhappy with the group's attitude. "But how far will you get with no money, nowhere to go and no one to turn to for help."

There was grumblings among the group as they contemplated the fact they seemed to be stuck. Tonks watched the group with disgust before she turned and left the room. Molly followed her and they headed into the kitchen where the older members of the Order were sitting talking quietly amongst themselves.

"Where's Teddy?" Tonks asked Andromeda. She had assumed her son was still with her mother but there was no sign of the little boy.

"Fred and George took him outside to get away from the shouting." Andromeda said.

"What's your opinions on the argument?" Tonks asked as she sat down at the kitchen table. "Do you regret us rescuing you?"

The group, apart from Molly, looked at each other for a few minutes before Minerva McGonagall cleared her throat to speak.

"We don't regret you breaking us out of Azkaban." McGonagall said gently. "But we do feel they're right in some respects. Without Harry our chances of defeating Voldemort are slim."

"So you think we should give up?" Tonks asked.

"Of course not." Molly said as she glared at the other people around the table. She wasn't happy that they were questioning whether they could defeat Voldemort.

"We have no choice but to continue." Kingsley Shackelbolt said and the rest of the group nodded in agreement.

"I'm going to check on Teddy." Tonks said, abruptly standing up and exiting the kitchen.

As she headed into the garden where Teddy was playing happily with Fred and George she contemplated the fact that very few people seemed happy with how things were going. Tonks knew that having such divisions on the group would make it easier for Voldemort to pull them apart and once again squash any resistance against him. Tonks silently cursed Harry and the problems he had created by abandoning them.

* * *

Harry walked along the streets of Hogsmeade trying not to look suspicious. Despite the many glamour charms he had on his appearance he was still wary about being out in public. He wouldn't have been out in public at all but Harry wanted to speak with Hermione one final time before he ran.

Harry had spent hours the previous night going over his plans. He wrote two notes, one to leave behind to explain his absence and another on to Hermione that he was currently carrying in his pocket.

Harry had snuck out of the house once everyone had gone to sleep and apparated to the caves beside Hogwarts. After spending most of the morning casting glamour charms over himself Harry ventured down to Hogsmeade to visit the post office.

Harry entered the post office and asked to hire an owl. The woman behind the desk barely looked at Harry, she merely took his money and pointed him to the back of the store where the owls were sitting on ledges. Harry picked up a tawny owl and tied his short note onto the owl's leg before he carried it outside.

Harry checked there was no-one listening before he bent his head to speak to the owl. "Take this to Hermione Malfoy at Hogwarts."

Harry released the owl and watched as it soared into the sky and headed towards the school. After the owl was out of sight Harry headed back towards the caves, he had sent his letter now all he could do was wait and see if Hermione showed up. Harry hoped his friend would show up as he was planning on leaving the country tonight whether he had spoken to Hermione or not.


	15. Chapter 15

Hermione and Severus sat in his office as they discussed when it would be best for Hermione to visit Neville, Bill and Fleur. Hermione was still unsure of how to approach them so she was leaning towards going later in the day.

"How about you go after lunch." Severus said. "I can cover your lessons, if I've finished all my work."

"Are you sure, I can wait until after school?" Hermione said.

"This afternoon's fine. In all honesty I would quite enjoy teaching again." Severus said.

"Do you miss it?" Hermione asked.

"Sometimes. I don't miss all the children but I do miss dealing with the potions and educating young minds." Severus said.

Hermione nodded understandingly, while she was looking forward to the day she would be headmistress she knew that she would miss the teaching aspect of her job.

"So we're settled, if I have everything sorted you can go this afternoon." Severus said.

"Yes, I'll be back after lunch." Hermione said, standing up. "I best be off or else the fifth years will have wrecked the potions room."

Hermione left the office to return to her lessons while Severus started to look into finding a new Herbology Professor.

Hermione was heading down the main stairs when an owl suddenly flew in the front doors and hovered around the brunette witch. Hermione was surprised to see an owl but she untied the note around it's ankle before the owl flew back out of the doors. Hermione looked at the note and saw her name written on the front of the letter. Her heart sped up as she recognised the writing as belonging to Harry.

Suddenly remembering she was late to her first lesson of the morning, Hermione put the letter in her pocket and headed down to the dungeons. Hermione entered her classroom to find her fifth year Ravenclaw and Slytherin students shouting and yelling. Hermione immediately silenced the class and set the work for the lesson. Hermione wandered around the room for several minutes, making sure everyone was settled and understood the potion they were making, before she headed for her desk.

Hermione sat down at her desk and pulled out the letter she had received a few minutes earlier. Harry's handwriting stared up at her as she looked at the parchment for several minutes. Harry suddenly writing to her seemed to confirm her suspicions about his involvement in the warning about the breakout they had received the previous day. Hermione carefully unfolded the parchment and read the few hastily written lines.

**_Hermione,_**

**_Please meet me in the caves near school at lunchtime. We really need to talk._**

**_Love Harry._**

Hermione folded the note back up and put it in her pocket. She wondered why Harry had been so open in his note, if it was intercepted he had revealed his identity and his location. Hermione spent the rest of the lesson wondering about Harry and what was so important he had risked coming so close to Hogwarts.

* * *

Harry looked at his watch again, unless they had changed the times lunchtime had begun twenty minutes ago and there was still no sign of Hermione. Harry briefly wondered if he had done the right thing contacting Hermione. Technically she was a Death Eater and could have informed Voldemort of his whereabouts. Harry shook his head and dismissed the thoughts, despite everything he trusted Hermione not to reveal his whereabouts.

Another five minutes passed and Harry was just about to give up hope when a sound in the cave entrance startled him. Harry clung onto the wand he had gotten off Tonks and stood to face whoever was entering the cave. Harry breathed a sigh of relief when Hermione stepped into his line of vision, he was even more relieved that she appeared to be alone.

"Hello Hermione." Harry said to the witch who was just staring at him.

"It's really you." Hermione whispered, moving closer to Harry. "You remember."

"Yes." Harry said, embracing his friend when she was close enough to touch.

"How? Do you have your magic back as well?" Hermione asked, looking at the unfamiliar wand in Harry's grasp.

"Sit down and I'll explain." Harry said, gesturing to a couple of large rocks that would serve as seats.

Hermione listened intently as Harry explained everything to her. He told Hermione how Tonks had bumped into him on Christmas Eve and returned a few weeks later and gave him back his memory. He then explained how they had used a potion to restore his memory before they started to recruit everyone else.

"Why have you left then? Why warn us last night?" Hermione asked. Even though she hadn't asked Harry about the note last night she was fairly certain he had been the one to send it.

"Because all my memories returned." Harry said, explaining how his memories returned gradually. "And I realised that Tonks hadn't been truthful about the state of the wizarding world."

"What did she say?" Hermione asked. She wasn't at all surprised that Tonks had been the ringleader after all.

"She just made it out to be worse than it was." Harry said. It seemed pointless to go into details as there was nothing Hermione could do about it.

"I know the wizarding world's not ideal." Hermione admitted, surprising Harry with her honesty. "But it could be a lot worse."

Harry nodded, unsure of what to say. He wanted to warn Hermione of everything he knew but he felt guilty about his part in what had happened and the new knowledge they had regarding Horcrux's.

"Why are you here, Harry? Why haven't you fled?" Hermione asked. She was pleased to see Harry but was unsure of why he had risked his life to see her.

"I want to warn you. I'm sure you know by now that the Order have the diadem." Hermione nodded so Harry continued. "They know Nagini is a Horcrux and they think the cup is either at the Manor or Voldemort's house."

Hermione was shocked by the theory of Nagini being a Horcrux, although it would explain The Dark Lord's attachment to the snake. She was also worried about what would happen now they thought the cup was in either her house or Voldemort's. Hopefully the Order would have more sense than to attack either house.

"Do you know any of their plans?" Hermione asked.

"No." Harry shook his head. "The only plan was breaking into Azkaban. I left before any more plans were made."

"What are you going to do now?" Hermione asked. She knew Harry had told her everything he knew so she decided to ask about his welfare.

"Leave. I'm heading to an airport after we've finished and taking a plane to somewhere far away." Harry said, explaining the extent of his plan.

"Do you need anything? Money or anything else?" Hermione asked. She wanted to help Harry as much as possible as she knew she was responsible for part of the predicament that he found himself in.

"I'm fine." Harry said, appreciating the offer.

"I guess this is goodbye, again." Hermione said as she stood up off her rock.

"I guess so." Harry said, standing up and hugging Hermione.

"I need to get back." Hermione said, pulling away from Hermione. "Good luck, Harry."

"Thanks Hermione." Harry said. "Bye."

"Bye." Hermione smiled sadly at her friend before she headed out of the cave to apparate back to school.

Harry watched from the dark as Hermione looked back at him one final time before she disappeared with a pop. Harry sighed and headed back into the cave to gather his bag. He was pleased he had spoken to Hermione one final time but now it was time to leave, this time for good.

* * *

Hermione entered the shop and looked around, she was trying to find Fleur without being too obvious. She had finally settled on a plan, she was accidently going to bump into Fleur and Neville to see if they remembered her.

After leaving Harry in the cave, Hermione arrived back at school and headed to see Severus. She hadn't mentioned seeing Harry to Severus, she had decided to talk to Draco before she decided whether to inform anyone else of her meeting with Harry. Severus had managed to find someone to replace Hannah so he was free to take Hermione's afternoon lessons.

Hermione had apparated near to Bill and Fleur's house and waited for Fleur to emerge from the house. She decided Fleur would be better to approach as Bill would be at work and he would be harder to gain access to. When Fleur had emerged from the house Hermione had followed her to a nearby shop.

Hermione spotted Fleur and casually walked over to where she was shopping. Hermione stopped nearby and pretended to examine something on the shelf. As Fleur stepped back slightly Hermione turned round and accidently on purpose knocked into her.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Hermione said apologetically.

"It's fine." Fleur said, politely.

"Fleur, is that you?" Hermione asked, deciding to pretend as though she was an old friend.

"I'm sorry you must have the wrong person." Fleur said, slightly bemused.

"Sorry, you look just like my friend Fleur." Hermione said. She was convinced that Fleur didn't know who she was.

As Hermione left the shop she wondered why she didn't think about asking Harry at dinner time about Bill, Fleur and Neville. He would have known if they had been approached to join the Order or not. Hermione was convinced that they hadn't approached Bill and Fleur as Fleur seemed to have no memories and surely if they had been asked to join the Order they would have their memories.

After deciding that Bill and Fleur were still living as muggles blissfully unaware of the magical world they came from Hermione apparated to the garden centre where Neville worked. Hermione entered the garden centre and wandered around until she found Neville tending to some rose bushes.

Hermione decided on the direst approach with Neville. She walked up behind him and prepared to tap him on the shoulder. If he didn't recognise her she would just ask for help picking a rose bush. Hermione tapped Neville on the shoulder and waited for him to turn around.

Neville turned round with a friendly smile on his face. The moment he saw Hermione he faltered slightly before he regained his control.

"Can I help you?" He asked, politely.

"Yes you can, Neville." Hermione said. She had noticed his surprised reaction when he had first seen her and was convinced he had his full memory.

Neville looked flustered as he tried to think of a response, he had never been adept at lying and was at a loss of what to say when Hermione clearly knew he had his memories back.

"It's alright Neville, I know you have your memory back. I just want to talk to you." Hermione said, reassuring her friend that she didn't mean him any harm.

"I finish work in half an hour." Neville said, after thinking for several minutes. "There's a café over the road, I'll meet you there."

"Okay. Thank you Neville." Hermione said.

As Neville got back to work Hermione left the garden centre and walked over the road to the café that Neville had mentioned. Hermione ordered a coffee and waited for Neville finishing work.

Neville arrived at the café a few minutes after finishing work. Before they started to talk Neville ordered a cup of tea while Hermione ordered another coffee.

"What happened Neville?" Hermione asked once their drinks had arrived.

Neville explained that Tonks had approached him and given him back his memories and asked him to re-join the Order. He then explained that when he agreed she gave him back his magic as well.

"If you were a part of the Order and have your memories and magic why are you still living as a muggle?" Hermione asked, totally confused by Neville's behaviour.

"Once we started the meetings I found out that Tonks had exaggerated how bad things were in the wizarding world." Neville said. Hermione noticed he had expressed the same sentiment as Harry.

"So you chose to return to your muggle life, why?" Hermione asked.

"I'm happy with my life, I re-joined the Order because I felt it was what was expected of me. I also chose to return before they broke into Azkaban and it was too late." Neville said. "I just hope that Harry made the right decision." He added quietly.

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked. She didn't want to reveal Harry had left until she was sure that was what Neville meant.

"We talked the night I left. He was having doubts about what was happening." Neville said. "I just hope he doesn't end up doing something he'll regret."

"He won't." Hermione said. At Neville's puzzled expression Hermione explained about her recent discussion with Harry and what his plans were.

"I'm pleased he's done what felt right." Neville said before he lapsed into silence.

"Is everything alright?" Hermione asked, worried about Neville's sudden silence.

"What's going to happen to me now you know I've got my magic and memories back?" Neville asked. He was now worried he would end up killed or imprisoned.

"I don't know. But I promise I won't let anything bad happen to you." Hermione said. There was no way she was letting Neville be punished when he had walked away from the rebellion. "What would you like to happen? Do you want to stay as a muggle or return to the wizarding world?" She asked, curious as to what Neville actually wanted to do.

"I don't know. For the time being I'm happy to stay as a muggle, I want nothing to do with any possible fighting. You can even remove my magic and memory again if you want." Neville said. As long as he didn't end up killed or in Azkaban he was happy.

"I'm not sure what'll be happening but I'll come and see you when I know anything more." Hermione said. "But whatever happens you'll be free to live your life."

"Thank you, Hermione." Neville said.

"It's alright." Hermione said, standing up. "I'll see you soon, Neville."

"Bye Hermione." Neville said, relieved that Hermione was offering him her protection.

Hermione was nearly at the door before she remembered a question she had wanted to ask Neville. "Neville, did Bill and Fleur get the chance to return to the Order?" She asked, turning back to her old friend.

"No. Apparently Fred and George didn't want them disturbed because of their daughter."

"Thanks Neville, Bye." Hermione said as she one again turned to leave the café.

After she left the café Hermione hurried to a nearby alleyway where she apparated home to the Manor.


	16. Chapter 16

Hermione was surprised to see Draco when she apparated into their bedroom. She had expected her husband to still be out with The Dark Lord not standing by the window in their room.

"I didn't expect to see you here." Hermione said, throwing her bag onto a chair.

"I live here, Hermione. You'll often find me here." Draco said, turning round to face his wife.

"I didn't mean that." Hermione said, pulling a face at Draco. "I just thought you would still be out with The Dark Lord."

"No, I've been here all afternoon." Draco said with a bite to his voice. "I wasn't needed this afternoon."

"I thought you were visiting the wizard who made the magic stripping potion today." Hermione said, realising that Draco wasn't happy about being left out of whatever Voldemort was doing with his afternoon.

"We did." Draco said, walking over to the bed and sitting down on it.

"What happened?" Hermione asked, sitting down next to Draco.

"We mainly talked, although Voldemort was pretty threatening during the visit." Draco said. "Miguel was surprised that there was an antidote, apparently it would have taken a while to make and needed some sort of prior knowledge of the potion."

"So did someone else knew about the potion?" Hermione asked.

"Yes. After a while he admitted that when he had first started dabbling with the potion he had been working with another wizard. Apparently this other wizard didn't approve of the potion and some of the other things Miguel was working on. They had a big falling out and haven't spoken since." Draco explained.

"Did he tell you the identity of the other wizard?" Hermione asked.

"Yes." Draco nodded. "Although all he could tell us was the wizard's name and where he was from."

"Did you find him?"

"After getting help from the Ministry, yes." Draco said. "The Dark Lord went to visit him this afternoon."

Hermione suddenly understood why Draco was upset at being left out. Normally Voldemort would take Draco with him on such visits but he obviously didn't want Draco around this time.

"Do you know why he didn't take you with him?" Hermione asked.

"He said it was because he wanted me to organise a meeting for tonight." Draco shrugged, not sounding convincing in his explanation.

"But you think there was another reason." Hermione said.

"Yes. He was furious with Miguel for not telling him about this other wizard earlier. I'm not sure what he would have done if I hadn't been there to calm him down." Draco said. "He was also in a foul mood when he did finally leave, so I'm guessing that this other wizard won't survive the meeting."

"Do you think he didn't take you because he didn't want you stopping him killing the wizard?"

"Probably." Draco said. "How did you get on today?" He asked, turning his head to look at Hermione.

"Fine. I found out what The Dark Lord wanted to know." Hermione said. "Bill and Fleur weren't approached while Neville walked away when he realised that Tonks had lied to him about the state of the wizarding world."

"Longbottom walked away from the Order." Draco said, looking shocked. "I didn't know he had it in him."

"Well he was a Gryffindor." Hermione said.

"Not sure how." Draco muttered.

Hermione hit Draco on the arm before she stood up. "What time's the meeting?"

"In an hour." Draco said, checking his watch.

Hermione debated whether to tell Draco about Harry and his visit but she really wasn't sure if an hour was enough time for them to discuss the matter, especially as she planned on seeing Scorpius before the meeting. She eventually decided to wait until after the meeting to mention her visit with Harry.

"I'm going for a shower then I'm going to see Scorpius." Hermione said, as she started to unbutton her blouse.

Hermione stripped off her blouse and skirt and walked into the bathroom in her underwear. She hadn't realised that Draco had followed her until he shut the bathroom door behind himself.

"What do you think you're doing?" Hermione asked as Draco pulled off his shirt.

"I thought I'd come and scrub your back." Draco said.

"No." Hermione shook her head. "We'll only get distracted and then we'll have no time before the meeting to see Scorpius."

"Scorpius is quite happy with mother. Besides we can spend the rest of the night with him after the meeting." Draco said.

Hermione shook her head again, trying not to give in to Draco. Sensing her indecision Draco walked over to where Hermione was standing and reached behind her to turn on the shower.

"Come on, you know you want to." Draco said, reaching behind his wife and unfastening her bra before he started to slide the straps down her arms.

"Cocky git." Hermione muttered, moaning slightly as Draco's finger's grazed her nipples.

Draco smirked, knowing he had gotten his own way. He quickly removed the rest of his and Hermione's underwear before the couple stepped under the steaming water of the shower.

* * *

After the escapades in the shower Hermione and Draco were almost late for the meeting. Luckily they arrived and took their seats moments before Voldemort stood up and started to address the room.

As Voldemort filled everyone in on what had happened, Hermione tried to ignore the hateful looks that were being thrown her way by some of the assembled Death Eaters. She had noticed both the Carrow's staring at her as she entered the room with Draco, she even heard them muttering under their breath about her but one cold look from Draco shut the sibling's up.

Hermione knew that a great deal of Voldemort's follower's disagreed with her being part of their group and having so much say in things. Luckily for Hermione everyone was too scared of her family to ever voice their opinions on her presence and her influence.

"I want complete secrecy regarding last night's events. No-one is to mention what has happened outside of this room." Voldemort said, drawing the meeting to a close and focusing Hermione's attention back on him. "I want to know about the slightest whisper of information anyone hears. Be on your guard and be constantly on the lookout for members of the Order."

Voldemort barked out a few more orders regarding security before he dismissed his Death Eaters, leaving only his inner circle seated at the table.

"Hermione, did you find out what I wanted to know?" Voldemort asked. He had already spoken to Bella about the wards of Azkaban so Hermione's information was all he needed to collect.

"Yes. Bill and Fleur Weasley weren't approached at all." Hermione said. "Apparently the twins asked for them not to be included on the account they have a small daughter."

"How do you know that?" Bella asked, surprised by Hermione's depth of knowledge.

"And how did the twins know about their brother's baby?" Severus asked.

"I'm not sure how Fred and George knew about the baby. It could have happened when Tonks found everyone." Hermione shrugged.

"How do you know Tonks was the one to find people?" Bella asked.

"The same way I know why Bill and Fleur weren't approached." Hermione said. "Neville Longbottom."

"Longbottom told you. So he has his memory back." Voldemort said quietly as he wondered why the young man wasn't a part of the Order.

"Yes, and his magic." Hermione said, holding her hand up to stop the questions she could see were about to come flying her way. "I spoke to him for a while and he explained exactly what had happened. When he was first approached Tonks returned part of his memory and the rest returned gradually, she also told him the wizarding world was in a terrible state. That was how she got him to return to the Order."

"Then why is he still living as a muggle?" Lucius asked, bemused.

"I'm getting to that." Hermione shot her father-in-law an annoyed look before she continued to speak. "After everyone had their magic back the Order started to make plans to break into Azkaban. This was when Neville began to realise that Tonks had lied about what was happening in our world. Realising he had been misinformed he left before anything happened."

"That's what he said." Bella said. "How do we know he didn't chicken out after the escape."

"He didn't." Hermione said, standing up for Neville. "If Neville says he left before the breakout then I believe him."

Bella shrugged at Hermione and turned to her lover "What are you going to do about him?" She asked Voldemort.

"I'm not sure." Voldemort said.

"I promised him he wouldn't be punished." Hermione said, shocking the entire table. "He's even offered to let us take away his magic again."

"I rather think that's my decision to make, not yours." Voldemort said to Hermione, his red eyes flashing with anger. Despite promising leniency to anyone who refused to get involved with the Order he still resented Hermione telling people they were safe from punishment.

"I promised him. All Neville wants to do is live his life in peace, and that's what I'll help him do." Hermione said, not backing down in the face of an angry Voldemort.

"We'll discuss Longbottom another time. Right now he's fine as he is." Voldemort said, ending the discussion.

Voldemort wasn't happy about what Hermione had done but he didn't really want a fight at the minute. He had no idea if an argument would lead to her leaving and if she left Draco would surely follow her and he really didn't want to lose either of them.

"What happens now?" Lucius asked, breaking the uncomfortable silence that had settled in the room.

"We wait." Voldemort said. "We have no idea where the Order is located or what they're planning to do next. All we can do is be on the lookout for their next move."

"You could investigate Tonks and what she's been up to lately." Hermione suggested. "She was the one who approached Neville and the others, she's the one driving this thing."

"Good idea, we'll look into it tomorrow." Voldemort said. He was happy that Hermione was still helping him despite their disagreement. "I think that's it for the night."

Hermione whispered something in Draco's ear and was up and had left the room before anyone else had the chance to move from their seats. Voldemort looked after Hermione's retreating figure hoping that the could solve the problem regarding Neville and move on.

"Tell Hermione I'll think about it tonight and we'll discuss it tomorrow." Voldemort said to Draco. He knew that he didn't have to explain what he was thinking about as it was obvious what he was talking about.

"I will. Thank you." Draco said before he followed his wife from the room.

* * *

After spending the rest of the night with Scorpius and doing some marking for school Hermione finally found the time to speak with Draco. They had both gotten ready for bed and were currently sitting in their large bed.

"Are you going to tell me what you wanted to talk about or am I going to have to guess?" Draco asked after several minutes of silence from his wife. He had been wondering what Hermione wanted to speak to him about for the past ten minutes, when she had first mentioned that she had something on her mind.

"I had a visitor today." Hermione said eventually. Draco just waited for Hermione to reveal more, knowing it was best to let her talk at her own speed. "Harry."

"You've seen Potter?" Draco asked, totally shocked by Hermione's revelation.

"Yes. He sent me an owl asking me to meet him." Hermione said.

"What did he have to say for himself?" Draco asked.

"He told me bits about the Order and what they know." Hermione said. "He also told me he was leaving, he wants no part of what's going to happen."

"Potter's gone? He's abandoned the Order?"

"Yes." Hermione nodded.

"They must be in disarray with both Longbottom and Potter abandoning them." Draco said, thinking about how much easier the Order would be to destroy at the minute. "He didn't mention the location of their new headquarters did he?" Draco asked hopefully.

"No, he didn't." Hermione said, knowing exactly what Draco was thinking.

"Shame." Draco muttered. "Did he tell you anything useful?"

"Yes, he told me some theories they have on the Horcrux's."

"Are you going to tell The Dark Lord?" Draco asked.

"I think so, I just wanted your opinion first." Hermione said. "But after the way he reacted when I told him about Neville I have no idea what he'll do when he discovers I let Harry walk away."

"He'll not do anything. He's already agreed to discuss Longbottom and I'm sure he'll understand why you let Potter go." Draco reassured his wife.

"What if he doesn't?" Hermione asked, wondering if she had made a mistake in agreeing to stay when they had had the chance to run.

"I'm pretty sure any information about Horcrux's you can give him will alleviate any anger." Draco said. "After all, the information you can provide will be all the information we have regarding the Order."

Hermione nodded, hoping Draco was right and she could avoid Voldemort's wrath by revealing what Harry had told her about the Order's knowledge of the Horcrux's.

"Stop worrying." Draco said, pulling Hermione into his side. "We can talk to him tomorrow."

"We?"

"Yes, we." Draco said, settling down in bed and taking Hermione with him. "We'll talk to him tomorrow and deal with him together."

"Thank you." Hermione said, snuggling closer into Draco. She was grateful that Draco was going to be there to support her as she wasn't really looking forward to telling Voldemort about her conversation with Harry.

* * *

**A/N - I am currently working on the final chapters so updates should be fairly quick until the end of the story. There will be 22 chapters and an epilogue.**


	17. Chapter 17

After Harry's sudden departure Tonks waited for a few days before she called a meeting. Tensions in the house were still high and Tonks was aware that the vast majority of people were starting to turn against her. The main problems were coming from the band of people who had kept their magic after Voldemort had won the war but there were also problems with other people as well.

The only person vocal in her unanimous support of Tonks was Molly. Tonks knew that her mother would also support her along with Fred and George but the three of them devoted most of their time to Teddy rather than to helping calm tensions in the group.

As everyone started to assemble in the kitchen Tonks noticed the glares she received and the muttering that went on in some quarters of the group. Once everyone was settled Tonks stood up to address the group.

"It's time we started planning our next move." Tonks started. "We need to destroy the diadem and retrieve the final two Horcrux's."

"How do you propose we do that?" Seamus snapped. "Nagini is safe in Voldemort's mansion and we're not actually sure where the cup is."

"We have Harry's logic on the cup's location which I've narrowed down some." Tonks said as she tried to control her temper. Seamus was one of the more vocal of the people who opposed her and would often make it clear just how unhappy he was with the situation.

"How?" Fred asked.

"Harry thought the cup was either with the Malfoy's or Bellatrix. Voldemort has already entrusted Lucius Malfoy with a Horcrux so I think he entrusted the cup with Bellatrix." Tonks explained what she had been thinking about deeply for the last few days.

"You think the cup is in Voldemort's house." George said, understanding what Tonks was saying.

"Yes as is Nagini." Tonks nodded and smiled at the twins, glad she still had some people on her side.

"If that's right it still doesn't help us though." Cho pointed out and several people agreed with her.

"It does." Tonks said. "We're going to break into Voldemort's house."

Tonks statement led to a heated argument with many people declaring the former Auror as crazy and unstable. Tonks let the argument continue for several minutes until everyone had had their say on her plan. When the room was relatively quiet she began to speak again.

"Voldemort has no way of knowing that we know about Nagini or that we suspect the location of the cup. It's a perfect opportunity to take him by surprise." Tonks explained, trying to regain some support amongst the group.

"How are we going to break in?" McGonagall asked, not convinced of Tonks plan. "Surely the house is surrounded by wards."

"That's what we need to check out. We need to find out about the wards he has in place and if there's any other security. We also need to monitor his movements and see if we can find a regular time that he leaves the house." Tonks said.

"Does that mean you want surveillance on his house?" Molly asked.

"Yes." Tonks nodded. "I'm hoping that he's been as cocky with his own security as he had with Azkaban."

"Surely after the breakout he would have upped security." Dean added, sceptical of Tonks' thinking.

"Maybe. But there's no way he'll consider that we would break into his house." Tonks said with a devious smile.

There was a ripple of agreement around the room. Attacking Voldemort's house was unpredictable and there was no way he would suspect such a move. Tonks was relieved to finally hear some support for her idea's, hopefully she was winning back the support of people as they realised they had no choice but to follow her.

"We need to sort out groups to watch Voldemort's house and monitor the security along with his movements." Tonks said. "I was thinking groups of three and four maybe."

As the plans were set Tonks was pleased to see several people who had been against her recently now seemed to be supportive. There was still a couple of people who were less enthusiastic but Tonks was starting to feel more confident about her plans again.

* * *

Terry and Seamus sat in silence as they waited for the third person to join them in Seamus' room.

"What's going on?" Cho asked, entering the bedroom and shutting the door behind her.

Seamus motioned for her to sit down. As Cho sat on one of the beds Terry silenced the room and locked the door before returning to another bed.

"You know if we go along with this plan of Tonks' we'll get killed." Seamus said.

"I know, but what can we do?" Cho sighed. "We can't run as we have no money."

"Seamus and I have been talking and we've decided that we're going to go to Voldemort and turn ourselves in." Terry said.

"You can't, he'll kill you before you get a chance to say anything." Cho said, scared for her two friends.

"That's a chance we have to take." Seamus said sadly. He wasn't happy with the idea himself but neither him or Terry could think of any alternative solution.

"Why are you telling me this?" Cho asked, recognising she wouldn't be able to change their minds.

"We're offering you a chance to join us." Terry said. "We'll understand if you don't want to but we honestly think it's our only chance to survive."

"This is a major decision." Cho said after a few minutes of silence. "Can I sleep on it and make my decision tomorrow?"

"Of course." Terry said immediately.

"Whatever you decide we'd appreciate it if you don't say anything though." Seamus added as Cho headed for the door.

"I won't say a word." Cho promised as she unlocked the door and exited the room.

"I hope we made the right decision confiding in Cho." Seamus sighed.

It had been Terry's idea to tell Cho about their decision and offer her a chance to be a part of it. Besides Terry and Seamus Cho had been the most vocal about her annoyance with Tonks and her regret for joining the Order.

"We have." Terry said, looking at the door where the witch had just exited from. "I'm sure tomorrow she'll agree to join us."

"Now we just have to hope we're not offering ourselves on a plate to Voldemort." Seamus said, worrying about coming face to face with The Dark Lord.

"Hopefully Hermione can help keep us safe." Terry said. Despite Hermione turning to the dark side he really didn't think she was a bad person, she had only done what she had for love.

"Hopefully." Seamus said as he flopped back on his bed.

* * *

Hermione lay on the floor of Scorpius' nursery playing with her son. It had only been a few days since the breakout from Azkaban and Hermione was still getting her head around everything that had happened.

On Tuesday morning Hermione had taken the morning off work and her and Draco had met with The Dark Lord to discuss the previous day's events. Voldemort had agreed that Neville could stay as he was until everything with the Order was settled. He had also agreed that Neville wouldn't be punished for initially joining the Order but any final decisions about him keeping his magic and memories would take place at a later date.

After discussing Neville for a while Hermione admitted that she had also seen Harry the previous day. Voldemort had initially been furious to discover that Hermione had just let Harry disappear but Draco eventually persuaded The Dark Lord that it didn't matter. Draco had convinced Voldemort that the most important thing was that Harry had abandoned the Order and without The Boy Who Lived they wouldn't stand a chance of defeating him.

Hermione had been incredibly impressed at how Draco had stood up for her in the face of Voldemort's anger and managed to convince him that everything would work out fine. By the end of the meeting Hermione knew that Voldemort still wasn't happy with her but she was hoping that eventually things could get back to normal between them.

Since Tuesday Hermione hadn't seen Voldemort, instead she had thrown herself into work and spending time with Scorpius. At Hogwarts Hermione had spent extra time with her muggleborn students making sure they were all excelling at their studies. Once at home Hermione spent most of her time with Scorpius, only venturing into the main part of the house at meal times.

Hermione was so absorbed with playing with Scorpius she failed to notice Draco enter the room until Scorpius suddenly got all excited and started reaching for Draco calling his name.

"Hi, little monster." Draco said, ruffling Scorpius' hair as he sat down next to Hermione on the floor.

The minute Draco sat down Scorpius crawled over to his father and dropped his stuffed toy dragon on his knee. Draco picked up the toy and began playing with Scorpius, making the little boy giggle as he made dragon noises to accompany the fun. After a few minutes Scorpius took the dragon off Draco and started playing with it himself.

"Are you alright?" Draco asked Hermione, keeping one eye on Scorpius who currently had the dragon's head in his mouth.

"I'm fine." Hermione answered, watching her son crawl about the floor as he played with his dragon.

"Is that why you've been avoiding everyone for the last few days?" Draco asked turning his full attention on his wife.

"I haven't been avoiding everyone." Hermione said stubbornly. Draco just looked at Hermione with a raised eyebrow as he silently questioned her statement. "Okay, maybe I have been." She admitted under Draco's scrutiny.

"Why?"

"Because this is all my fault." Hermione admitted quietly.

Draco sat stunned for a few minutes, not sure how Hermione was blaming herself for what was happening. Deciding he need to talk with Hermione properly, Draco called for Daisy.

"What are you doing?" Hermione asked as Draco called for Daisy and the little elf appeared.

"We need to talk." Draco said, helping Hermione up from the floor and giving Daisy instructions to look after Scorpius for a while.

Once Daisy was settled on the floor playing with Scorpius, Draco and Hermione went into their own room. Draco headed for the sofa in front of the fire, sitting down he pulled Hermione down beside them so they could talk.

"Explain how any of this is your fault." Draco said as he wrapped his arm around her waist.

"If it wasn't for me the Order wouldn't have been in a position to re-form."

"No, they'd all be dead or in Azkaban." Draco pointed out. "You might be the reason behind the leniency The Dark Lord showed to them but it was their decision to squander the chance he gave them."

"Maybe." Hermione said, still not convinced that she wasn't to blame for the mess they now found themselves in.

"There's no maybe about it." Draco said forcefully. He was determined to make Hermione realise that what was happening wasn't her fault. "Everybody made their own choices, you didn't make it for them. Look at Potter and Longbottom, they chose to walk away from the Order. Others could have done the same but instead they chose to be a part of the rebellion."

Hermione nodded, logically she knew that Draco was right but it didn't stop her from blaming herself slightly. Draco knew he wasn't going to get Hermione to stop blaming herself completely for the Order's re-forming but he hoped that he had alleviated some of the guilt she felt.

Hermione moved closer to Draco as she contemplated bring up the other thing she had been thinking about for the past few days.

"What else is bothering you?" Draco asked as Hermione moved closer to him. He knew his wife well enough to know that there was something other than the Order on her mind.

"Nothing's bothering me, but I have been thinking about something." Hermione said before she lapsed into silence.

Draco sat patiently as he waited for Hermione to speak. He knew that Hermione would eventually tell him what she had been thinking about.

"I know we only decided on it a few days ago but I think we should put off having another baby." Hermione said eventually.

"I think you're right." Draco admitted, surprising Hermione with his quick agreement.

Hermione turned her head and sat up slightly so she could see Draco's face. "I thought I would have to convince you to put off having a baby."

"I've been thinking about it for the last few days." Draco said. "With everything that's going on it's not exactly safe for you to be pregnant. I can remember how anxious Theo was when Pansy was pregnant and I really don't want to worry about you any more than I already do."

Hermione smiled at Draco's thoughtfulness. "So we're agreed, we wait to have another baby."

"Yes." Draco said. "Although the moment we end this rebellion we're going back to trying for a baby."

"Agreed." Hermione said, leaning over and kissing Draco.

Draco gently kissed Hermione back, looking forward to the day they could end the rebellion and get their lives back to how they were at the weekend.


	18. Chapter 18

Hermione finished explaining to her second year potions class the lesson for the day and sat down at her desk. Hermione watched the students begin to make their potions for several minutes before her mind started to wander.

It was now a week since Azkaban was broken into and after a brief lull in the Order's activity they were now active again. Over the weekend Voldemort had noticed that his house was under surveillance. After several meetings to decide on the best course of action The Dark Lord had decided to wait and see what move the Order made next.

At the time Hermione hadn't questioned Voldemort's decision as their relationship was still distinctly cool after events of the previous week. Since Voldemort had made the decision Hermione had been worried about it. Scorpius often spent time at Voldemort's house with Bella and Hermione was very uncomfortable with having her son in a potentially unsecure location. Hermione was also beginning to think it was time to talk to Narcissa about taking Scorpius to Italy. Even though no-one had been spotted around the Manor, Hermione was still uncomfortable with having Scorpius so near to any potential fighting.

For the rest of the lesson Hermione was deep in thought about what was happening with the Order. The only time she stopped worrying was the handful of times a student need help.

Ten minutes before the end of class Hermione was helping a girl from Hufflepuff when the room fell silent. Hermione looked around wondering why everyone was suddenly quiet, apart from the girl she was helping everyone else had been tidying their things away so it was quite boisterous in the classroom. It only took Hermione a few seconds to find the reason for the silence, The Dark Lord was standing in the doorway.

"Is everything okay?" Hermione asked, worried that something had happened to Draco.

"Everything's fine." Voldemort said, reassuring Hermione that nothing bad had happened to anyone she cared for. "I was meeting with Severus and decided we should talk."

"I'll be finished shortly." Hermione said, turning her attention back to the small girl she was currently helping.

Voldemort went and sat down at Hermione's desk while the students returned to the tidying up. Voldemort watched Hermione as she finished helping the girl she was standing beside. Hermione then handed out homework and dismissed the class before she turned to face Voldemort.

"What do you want to talk about?" Hermione asked.

"I want to apologise for my reaction after you told me about Potter. I want things to go back to normal. The Order are clearly preparing their next move and I need you on my side."

"You're worried about the Order?" Hermione asked, sensing Voldemort's unease.

"Honestly, yes. I want to know why they're watching my house. Are they distracting me so they can strike somewhere unexpected or are they genuinely trying to gain information about my property?" Voldemort admitted. He had already spoke with Draco about his worries but he wanted Hermione's opinion as well.

"I have no idea, it's something I've been wondering about myself." Hermione said. She was pleased the tension between her and Voldemort seemed to have gone and things seemed more normal between them.

Voldemort was just about to speak again when a knock on the door disrupted them. Hermione and Voldemort turned as the door opened and Severus appeared in the doorway.

"We have a problem. One of the wards has been breached and we have an unidentified person on the property." Severus said.

"Where?" Voldemort asked.

"I don't know, all I know is the alarm in my office went off to inform me of the breach." Severus explained. The alarm system was something that Draco had installed after the final battle at Hogwarts.

"Let's split up and see if we can find this person, I'll also call Draco." Voldemort said, sweeping out of the potions classroom.

Severus and Hermione followed Voldemort to the entrance hall. Once there the three split up and began to search the school grounds for the intruder.

* * *

Draco apparated to just outside the Hogwarts boundary line minutes after being summoned by Voldemort. He was curious as to why he had been summoned but the moment he crossed the wards he realised what the problem was. Since Draco had set the wards he was more aware of them than anybody and he could immediately feel that they had been breached.

Draco stopped at the boundary and removed his wand as he set about determining what had happened. It only took Draco a few minutes to realise that the wards were perfectly intact, someone unauthorized had merely passed through them. Draco knew the alarm in Severus' office would have sounded so he would be aware of what was happening.

Now he knew there was someone unauthorized on the property Draco activated the ward that revealed human activity. A miniature holographic image of Hogwarts and it's grounds appeared in front of Draco. Draco studied the numerous dots of coloured energy as he tried to find the intruder, who would be represented by a green dot. The red dots indicated the students locations, the blue dots revealed where the staff were and the lone black dot represented Voldemort.

Draco scanned the holograph until he finally found the green dot heading directly to the front door of the school. Draco was confident that the intruder was only a few minutes ahead of him on the path and he could catch up easily. Obviously the alarm had sounded quickly and Voldemort had summoned him almost immediately.

Draco quickly de-activated the detection ward and hurried towards the school. Keeping his wand firmly in his hand Draco made sure to keep an eye on the path ahead of him and he jogged to catch up to the intruder.

A few minutes before reaching the school Draco spotted a shadow lurking at the side of the path, taking shelter in the tree covering. Draco watched the shadowy figure hoping to recognise who it was. When the figure failed to leave the safety of the trees Draco pointed his wand at them and stunned them. As the figure fell to the ground Draco hurried over to them, hoping he hadn't accidently stunned someone he shouldn't have.

Draco was relieved when he got to the prone body to find he hadn't stunned a student or member of staff. Draco looked at who he had stunned, he had been expecting a member of the Order and he wasn't disappointed.

"Finnegan, isn't it?" Draco asked, removing the spell on the man's head so he could speak. He was pretty sure it was Seamus Finnegan he was looking at but he wasn't a hundred per cent sure as he never paid too much attention to him in school.

"Yes. I want to make a deal with Voldemort. I can give him information." Seamus said quickly, wanting to make sure Draco didn't curse him.

Draco studied Seamus for several minutes, trying to decide if he was being serious. Eventually he decided he was so he released the spell on him after making sure Seamus knew he wouldn't hesitate to curse him if he put a foot wrong.

Draco and Seamus headed to the castle, Draco's wand firmly pointing at Seamus' back the entire time. By the time they had reached the front entrance Draco still hadn't seen any sign of Voldemort or Severus. Draco decided to take Seamus to Hermione's office, that way he could send his wife to find Voldemort and Severus.

"Damn." Draco swore when they reached Hermione's office to find it empty. A quick glance into the adjoining room showed her classroom was also empty.

"Sit down." Draco ordered Seamus, pointing at a chair in front of Hermione's desk.

Seamus sat down and Draco immediately tied him up in magical bindings. Draco debated whether he should leave Seamus and go in search of Voldemort but decided he should stay with the former Gryffindor. Draco eventually settled on sending his patronus to inform Voldemort, Severus and Hermione where he was.

"How did you do that?" Seamus asked as he watched Draco's silvery lioness patronus exit the room. "Dark wizards can't perform the patronus charm."

"Obviously they can. All you need is a happy memory and I've got plenty of them." Draco explained.

Seamus looked like he was going to say more but a glare from Draco stopped him from speaking. Instead silence descended in the room as they waited for Voldemort to arrive.

* * *

"Let me get this straight. Not only do you want immunity you want it for two more people as well." Voldemort said, pacing the floor in front of a restrained Seamus.

After receiving Draco's patronus Voldemort, Severus and Hermione had returned to Hermione's office where they found Draco and Seamus waiting for them. Draco had managed to persuade Voldemort to listen to Seamus, who had asked for immunity in exchange for all the information he had on the Order.

"Yes. None of us want anything more to do with the Order, we just want our old lives back." Seamus said.

After Cho agreed to joining Seamus and Terry the three had discussed things and decided they needed to offer Voldemort an incentive to give them immunity, hence the offer of information. After more discussions it was decided that only one person would approach Voldemort, that way if they were unsuccessful the other two would survive. After being unable to decide who would do the approaching they had resorted to pulling straws and Seamus had been the unlucky one.

"And you're really willing to give us all the information you have?"

"Yes." Seamus nodded, hoping their plan was going to work.

"Including the whereabouts of the new headquarters?" Voldemort asked with a smirk. "It's a very good way of ending the rebellion, taking them by surprise."

Seamus paled at the thought, he had never considered that Voldemort would want to know the Order's location. Before he had time to decide on an answer Hermione spoke up.

"No. There's a small boy living there, we need to draw the Order out."

"Hermione's right." Draco said, supporting his wife. "If we can get the Order away from headquarters for the final battle then one or two people can head to their headquarters to make sure everyone's accounted for."

Voldemort pondered Hermione and Draco's argument. While attacking the headquarters was a good idea he knew that drawing them away would also work.

"In that case I need people still in contact with the Order." Voldemort said, turning back to Seamus. "I'll grant you and your friends immunity if you stay with the Order and pass on information. I'll make sure you're safe during the final battle and afterwards you can live your lives in peace."

"I'll need to talk it over with the others." Seamus said. Spying on the Order wasn't what was discussed and it would mean thinking seriously about their next move.

"Fine." Voldemort nodded and turned to Hermione. "Do you have anything I can use as a portkey?"

"Sure." Hermione said, looking on her desk. "Will this do?" She asked holding a quill.

"Yes." Voldemort took the quill off Hermione and started casting spells on it. "You have twenty four hours. The Port key will activate this time tomorrow, make sure you've made your decision by then. If you agree to my terms we'll talk properly tomorrow, if you don't then you're on your own."

Seamus nodded at Voldemort, understanding what he was saying. Voldemort released Seamus from his restraints and handed him the quill.

"Draco will show you off the premises." Voldemort said, dismissing Seamus.

Seamus stood up and left the room with Draco.

"Do you think they'll agree?" Voldemort asked Hermione once Seamus was out of the room.

"I don't know, they might. They're obviously desperate if they've come to us." Hermione replied.

"Whether they agree or not, it's still good news." Voldemort said. "It shows the Order is divided, a divided group will make mistakes sooner or later."

Severus who had been standing quietly suddenly spotted the time and cursed silently, he had been due at a meeting five minutes ago. Deciding he wasn't needed any more Severus made his excuses and swept out of Hermione's office.

"I best be off as well, I'll get Draco on the way." Voldemort said. "I'll see you later, Hermione."

Hermione said goodbye to Voldemort and sat down at her desk. Despite the pile of marking that needed doing Hermione ignored it and instead thought about the meeting with Seamus. If he agreed to Voldemort's proposal he could pass them information that could potentially end this rebellion quickly. Hermione hoped that Seamus and his friends did accept, she was desperate for her life to get back to normal.


	19. Chapter 19

"I'm still not sure, it wasn't what we agreed." Cho said, biting her lower lip nervously.

"I know, but it's a simple choice. Either we accept the offer or refuse it and face the consequences." Terry said, putting an arm around Cho's shoulder.

Seamus, Terry and Cho had been discussing Voldemort's offer since Seamus returned. It was now nearly twenty four hours later and the port key was due to activate within the hour. Seamus had decided to accept Voldemort's offer as had Terry, Cho however was more hesitant than the two men.

"It's your choice Cho." Seamus said. "We're not going to force you into doing anything."

Cho looked at Terry, hoping he would provide answers. Over the last few weeks she had gotten closer to Terry and was beginning to develop romantic feelings for the wizard. The thought of never seeing him again was a sad one but she was still unsure if she could pass information onto Voldemort and still live with herself.

"I'm in." Cho said eventually causing Terry to smile broadly at her.

"Are you coming with us today?" Seamus asked. It had already been decided that Terry would accompany Seamus to visit Voldemort.

"Yes, we're in this together. I also want to make sure we all get immunity, I'm not doing this if I miss out because he's never seen me." Cho said.

"Let's just hope no-one notices we're all missing." Terry said.

"They won't." Seamus said with conviction. "They're far too busy planning the break in."

"I hope you right." Cho said.

All three hoped Seamus was right as they sat in his locked bedroom waiting for the port key to activate.

* * *

Draco sat in the kitchen of Grimmauld Place and waited for the port key to arrive. Voldemort and Draco had spoken extensively about Seamus and what would happen if him and his friends accepted the offer. Voldemort had entrusted Draco with the meeting today and it was decided he would be the one they dealt with if they accepted the agreement.

Draco found it amusing that Voldemort had set the port key up to bring them to Grimmauld Place, the Orders old headquarters. Draco had spent the last hour setting up multiple protective wards around the house and specifically the kitchen.

Draco checked the time one final time and exactly on cue a bright light appeared in the kitchen as the port key arrived. Draco looked on in surprise as not one but three people appeared in the light. When the light cleared Draco looked at the three people standing in front of him.

Obviously Seamus was there but there was another man with him and a woman. Draco recognised the woman as a Ravenclaw in the year above them at school and he vaguely remembered the man as part of Dumbledore's Army in fifth year.

"Where's Voldemort?" Seamus asked.

"Busy. You're dealing with me." Draco replied.

"That wasn't the deal." Seamus protested. He wasn't particularly looking forward to meeting Voldemort but he really didn't want to deal with Malfoy.

"It is now. We can either talk or I can take you to Azkaban."

"Could we not deal with Hermione?" Terry asked, his distaste for the blond Death Eater evident on his face.

"No, my wife is busy. You either deal with me or we forget it." Draco said.

Draco watched as the three Order members held a brief conversation before they sat down opposite him at the table. He also noticed the horrified expressions as they finally looked around the room and realised where they had arrived.

"I take it this means you've accepted the deal." Draco said and Seamus nodded. "Good, I can now guarantee that nothing will happen to you. After this is over you can return to your lives."

"What happens now?" Seamus asked.

"Now you tell me everything you know about the Order's plans."

Draco listened intently as Seamus, Terry and Cho detailed everything they knew about what Tonks and the Order were planning. Draco was surprised to find that the Order believed the cup was in Voldemort's house but nothing else about their plans surprised him.

"How are they going to know when The Dark Lord's not at home?" Draco asked, puzzled by that part of the Order's plan. "It'll take months to establish any pattern in his comings and goings via surveillance."

"For the time being the surveillance is concentrating on the wards." Terry said. "Fred and George have developed a small bug that will enable the Order to hear what's being said in the house. Tonks plans on using information she overhears to plan the best time to break in."

"What's this bug?" Draco asked.

"It's a tiny magical insect that'll fly into Voldemort's house and pick up on conversations." Cho explained.

"I'll need to know when it's ready to go." Draco said. He knew the bug was the ideal way to draw the Order to them as they could easily feed them false information.

"How will we contact you?" Seamus asked.

"I take it you know how this works." Draco said, throwing an enchanted galleon onto the table. It was one of the galleons the DA had used in fifth year but Hermione had modified it for him.

"Yes." Seamus nodded, picking up the galleon.

"When you have information, you send me a message on the coin. I'll send back a time and date to meet. At that time and date the galleon will become a port key and bring you here and we'll discuss whatever needs discussing." Draco said, explaining how the coins would work.

"What about the final battle? How are you going to make sure we're not hurt?" Cho asked.

"We'll deal with that when you give me some useful information." Draco said. He already had a plan in place for the final confrontation with the Order but he wasn't prepared to reveal it just yet.

"How do we know you'll keep your word?" Cho asked.

"You'll just have to trust me." Draco replied with a shrug. "Just like I'll have to trust that you three will give us some useful information and are not just playing us."

"It looks like we'll all have to trust each other." Seamus sighed, not happy with having to trust Draco.

"We will." Draco agreed. "Now unless you have any more information you can leave now."

"How?" Terry asked. "The port key only went one way."

"I'm sure you can apparate back." Draco said with a sneer, unimpressed with the lack of thought that Terry had shown.

Draco watched as the three of them apparated away. Once they had gone he reset the anti-apparition wards and set the other security wards before he left the house and headed to see The Dark Lord.

* * *

After spending a couple of hours with Voldemort, explaining everything he had learnt from Seamus and his friends, Draco returned home.

When he arrived back home Draco spent nearly half an hour looking for Hermione in their wing before he headed into the main part of the Manor in search of his wife. Draco found Lucius in his study but his father had no idea where Hermione was so Draco continued his search.

Draco found Narcissa in the front room with Scorpius playing on the floor in front of her. Draco greeted his mother and picked up his son who had immediately started calling for him as soon as he saw Draco.

"Do you know where Hermione is?" Draco asked his mother.

"She said she had something to do and asked if I'd look after Scorpius for an hour." Narcissa replied, smiling as she watched her son and grandson interact.

"When was this?" Draco asked, wondering how long Hermione would be.

"About half an hour ago."

"Thanks. I'll take Scorpius now." Draco said, wondering where Hermione was.

"Are you sure? I don't mind having him until Hermione returns." Narcissa offered. Despite spending most days with her grandson she was always eager to look after him.

"It's fine. I'll give him an early bath." Draco told Narcissa. "I thought I might take Hermione out to dinner, so don't worry about feeding us tonight."

"Alright, have a nice time." Narcissa said, giving Draco a peck on the cheek and kissing Scorpius before her son and grandson left the room.

As he waited for Hermione to return Draco put Scorpius in the bath, getting most of the water on the floor as Scorpius loved to splash the water at his father. Before leaving the bathroom Draco used magic to clean the mess as he knew Hermione wouldn't appreciate returning to a wet bathroom in Scorpius' nursery.

Draco then got Scorpius ready for bed and sat down with his son on the sofa in front of the fire. Draco summoned one of Scorpius' many books and he started to read him a story. Scorpius' favourite part of story time were the voices Draco provided to each story and he often giggled away at the funny voices Draco came out with.

Draco read until Scorpius fell asleep in his arms. When he was sure that Scorpius was sound asleep Draco stood up and transferred him to his crib. Draco watched his son for several minutes before he felt a presence beside him, turning his head he found Hermione standing next to him.

"Hi, where have you been?" Draco asked quietly.

"I went to see Pansy." Hermione said. "She wrote to me this morning and asked to see me."

"Why?" Draco asked.

"She was worried about what's happening." Hermione explained as she headed towards their bedroom, Draco following behind her.

"Why now? Azkaban was broken into a week ago." Draco wondered as he sat on the edge of the bed.

"Over the weekend she found out she's pregnant. She's worried about a repeat of last time she was pregnant, with a war waging on around her." Hermione explained, sitting down next to Draco.

"It was really hard on her last time. She was constantly worried about Theo and the baby and what would happen to them if Voldemort was defeated." Draco said, remembering how tough Pansy's last pregnancy was on his best friend.

"I told her it's not the same this time, we'll stop things before they get too far." Hermione said. "I also offered her the chance to go and stay on our island."

"What did she say?"

"She was slightly reassured by what I said and she said she would discuss the island with Theo." Hermione explained.

"Did you mention mother and Scorpius would be using it as well?" Draco asked. Despite not discussing the idea since last week Draco knew that him and Hermione would still be sending Scorpius away as things got more dangerous.

"Yes." Hermione nodded. "How did things go with Seamus?" She asked.

Draco told Hermione about his meeting and explained everything that was discussed.

"I hope this means we can end things quickly now." Hermione sighed.

"Hopefully, I spoke with The Dark Lord and we have a plan. Once the bug is in place we can drop false information about when the house will be empty, hopefully the Order will take the bait and arrange to break in then." Draco explained.

"I hope it doesn't take the twins long to perfect this bug." Hermione said.

"So do I." Draco agreed with his wife. He wanted this rebellion over with, even more so now his best friend was pregnant.

"I suppose we should head down to dinner." Hermione said, standing up and heading towards the bathroom. "Will you call for Daisy to watch Scorpius."

"I thought we could go out for dinner tonight." Draco said.

"I'd like that." Hermione smiled. "I'll go and get ready."

Hermione headed into the bathroom as Draco called for Daisy. After setting the elf up with Scorpius, Draco began getting ready himself.

Half an hour later Draco apparated him and Hermione to their favourite Italian restaurant where they spent the night trying to forget about the rebellion that was currently happening.


	20. Chapter 20

It took nearly a week for Draco to be contacted about Fred and George's bug. At Grimmauld Place Draco met with Terry who explained the bug was ready and would be released that night. Draco immediately consulted with Voldemort and the plan was set in motion.

After the bug was in their house Voldemort and Bella deliberately controlled what they spoke about, never revealing what they knew about the Order. Voldemort actually toyed with the Order for several days never making any solid plans that they could use.

After numerous discussions with his inner circle, Voldemort set a date that he hoped would end the rebellion. He settled for a Saturday, nearly three weeks after the Azkaban breakout.

After setting the date Voldemort and Bella made sure to discuss their fake plans in the house. Then all they had to do was wait and see if the Order acted or if they would have to try a second time.

* * *

Tonks was in the back garden watching Teddy run around the lawn when Fred and George appeared next to her.

"I think we have something." Fred said. Fred and George had been part of the surveillance team which had just been relived a few minutes ago.

"Something we can use?" Tonks asked. Despite having the bug in Voldemort's house for days they had heard nothing useful, surprisingly he seemed to live a pretty domesticated life with Bellatrix and on the whole they behaved like a normal couple.

"Yes." George beamed. "On Saturday Voldemort and Bellatrix are planning a trip to Greece."

"Greece, are you sure?" Tonks asked.

"Yes. Apparently it's some sort of anniversary for them." Fred said, grimacing at the thought of the couple celebrating any sort of anniversary.

"Why Greece?" Tonks asked, still wary of the information.

"Apparently the Malfoy's own a villa there and have agreed to Voldemort and Bellatrix using it for the weekend." George explained.

"Why would they go away with everything that's happening?" Tonks wondered.

"We've already discovered they're not exactly worried about us." Fred pointed out. Numerous conversations had been heard over the last few days and it was obvious that Voldemort thought they posed little threat to him.

"True. This could be perfect." Tonks said thoughtfully. "If they're out of the country, they'll be well away from the house giving us ample time to search it."

"Exactly. Should we call a meeting?" Fred asked.

"Yes, we need to discuss things in detail. I want everything to run smoothly." Tonks said. "Can you get everyone together?"

"Sure." Fred said as him and George rushed inside to gather the rest of the Order.

Tonks smiled happily as she gathered Teddy into her arms and headed inside. If they found the Horcrux's on Saturday then they were one step closer to defeating Voldemort.

Tonks settled Teddy into their room with his toys and asked her mother to watch him as she returned to the kitchen to lead the meeting. Tonks waited until everyone was assembled, the only people missing were Andromeda who was watching Teddy and Alicia, Oliver and Katie who were on surveillance duty at Voldemort's house.

"We have a date to make a move." Tonks said, addressing the group. "Saturday."

Everyone started talking at once as they were shocked by the nearness of the date. Tonks let people talk for a few minutes before she quietened them down so she could carry on.

"We know Voldemort and Bellatrix will be out of the country on Saturday, so it's the perfect time to find the two remaining Horcrux's." Tonks said. "I want nothing to go wrong so we need to plan in great detail, this could ensure our overall victory."

There were murmurs of agreement around the room as the plans got started. For the next few hours numerous plans were debated before the final set of plans were put into place.

* * *

Hermione threw her head back onto the pillow and moaned loudly. Her right hand was entangled in Draco's soft hair as she directed where she wanted his tongue to focus its attention. Draco obeyed Hermione's silent instructions and within minutes he managed to bring his wife to climax.

Draco began kissing and caressing his way up Hermione's body until he was hovering over her. Hermione wrapped her arms around Draco's neck and pulled her husband closer to her so their bodies were touching. Draco pressed his lips against Hermione's, his wife eagerly responding and deepening the kiss.

Draco and Hermione were so wrapped up in each other they didn't notice the glowing coin on the bedside table. It was only when the coin began to vibrate slightly that the couple parted long enough to turn their heads slightly and spot the illuminated coin.

"Damn." Draco cursed at the timing as she reached for the coin.

Draco read the message and grabbing his wand that was lying beside the coin he sent his own message back. Draco replaced both items back on the bedside table before turning back to Hermione.

"Sorry baby, I have to go." Draco said. "Although hopefully this means they've decided to act."

"I hope so." Hermione sighed as Draco got off the bed. "I want my life back to normal."

Hermione watched as Draco began getting dressed before she got off the bed herself and pulled on her dressing gown that was lying over a chair.

"Where are you going?" Draco asked as Hermione headed for the door.

"I'm going to get a book. I need something to do until you get back." Hermione replied, leaving the room.

By the time Hermione had visited the library and returned to the bedroom with a book Draco was just getting ready to leave. After saying a brief goodbye Draco apparated to Grimmauld Place.

One at Grimmauld Place Draco set the usual protective wards and settled down at the kitchen table for the port key to arrive. The port key arrived a few minutes later bringing a nervous looking Seamus with it.

"This better be good news, I was in the middle of something." Draco said, not bothering to greet Seamus as he sat down opposite him.

"We're going in on Saturday." Seamus said.

"Good, give me all the details."

Seamus spent the next half hour explaining the Order's plan of attack in great detail to Draco. Seamus was surprised that Draco wasn't making notes but when he asked the blond about it he merely scoffed at him and informed him that he had a good memory.

"What about the protection you agreed to regarding me, Terry and Cho?" Seamus asked when he had finished telling Draco the plan for Saturday.

"Don't worry I haven't forgotten." Draco said. "Give me your coin."

Seamus handed Draco the coin and the blond cast a few silent spells on it before he returned it to Seamus, explaining what he had done to the coin.

"When all of the Order have entered The Dark Lord's house you need to send me a message via the coin. Thirty seconds after we have arrived in the house the coin will activate and become a port key again. All you have to do is make sure you're holding the coin and you'll be safe."

"So we'll be free after that?" Seamus asked, eager to resume his life away from any fighting.

"Not quite. The coin will bring you here but you'll not be able to leave the property until I come and let down the wards." Draco said.

"When will that be?" Seamus asked.

"When everything has ended at The Dark Lord's house and we're satisfied the Order is no more." Draco shrugged. "Hopefully it won't be more than a few hours."

"What about after we leave Grimmauld Place?"

"That's entirely up to you. You can go back to living your lives from before the Order re-formed or you can begin new lives." Draco said. "Either way we'll not bother you again as long as you don't cause any more trouble."

"That's something I can guarantee won't happen. Getting involved with the Order was the worst decision of our lives." Seamus said, reassuring Draco that there would be no more trouble from him and his friends.

"If that's everything, you can leave." Draco said, eager to get back home. Hopefully the meeting with Voldemort to fill him in on events wouldn't take long then he could get back to Hermione and finished what they had started earlier.

As usual Draco waited until Seamus had left before he reset the wards around Grimmauld Place and went home.

* * *

When Draco informed Voldemort he had heard from Seamus The Dark Lord had insisted that everyone he trusted the most were present for the conversation. Because of this it was nearly half an hour before everyone was gathered in the Malfoy's dining room.

"I trust our plan worked?" Voldemort asked Draco once everyone was seated.

"Perfectly." Draco smirked. "The entire Order is going in on Saturday evening."

"They're sending everyone in." Lucius exclaimed in shock. "Isn't that a bit reckless?"

"Probably. But that's what's happening according to Finnegan. The only person not taking part in the break-in is Andromeda, she's staying at headquarters with Tonks' son." Draco said.

"I'm still not sure why they're taking everyone. Maybe we're being fed false information." Lucius said, wanting to be cautious.

"Finnegan was telling the truth." Draco told his father. He also didn't understand the plan but he was confident he wasn't being lied to.

"Actually everyone taking part makes sense." Hermione said, causing everyone to look at her in bemusement. "This is their only chance to search the house, so it makes sense that they'll want as many people as possible. They'll know that as soon as you return to the house you'll know someone has being there."

"That does make sense." Bella said. "If they only sent in a couple of people and failed to find the Horcrux's once we discovered they had been in the house we would up the security, meaning they couldn't try again."

"Exactly." Hermione smiled at Bella. "This is their golden opportunity to get hold of the remaining Horcrux's."

"Now that's sorted, it's time to start making plans." Voldemort said. "Draco, did you arrange to get informed when the Order were inside?"

"Yes, Finnegan will send me a message once everyone's in the house." Draco told Voldemort.

"Good. We'll gather everyone here on Saturday so when we get the message we're ready to go."

"Won't the Order try to escape when we arrive?" Severus asked.

"Maybe. That's why before we arrive Hermione and Draco are going to set up anti-apparition wards around the house." Voldemort said, already having a clear idea of how he wanted the night to go.

"How will we get inside if we can't apparate?" Lucius asked. "It'll take too long for everyone to arrive via floo or to just walk in. Apparating en masse provides the best opportunity for taking them by surprise."

"We can set the wards so that everyone with a Dark Mark can apparate." Draco explained.

"Good. I think that's all for now." Voldemort said, standing up. "I'll arrange a full meeting for tomorrow and we'll make sure we have a solid plan."

"What about Andromeda?" Bella asked. "Surely you're not just going to let her stay wherever she is."

"No, I'm not. We'll need to send someone to Order headquarters to make sure there's no-one left behind. This time I don't want to leave any possibility of this happening again." Voldemort said. "By Saturday night everyone still involved with the Order will either be dead or in Azkaban."

Bella smiled slightly, wondering if she could persuade Voldemort to let her go to the Order headquarters. Bella wanted to see the shock on her sister's face when she turned up at the headquarters and realised that something had gone wrong with the Order's plans.

"Bella, come on." Voldemort said, bringing Bella's attention back to the present where she realised that everyone was starting to leave the room.

Bella quickly stood up and followed Voldemort into the front hallway. Voldemort spoke quickly with Draco before the blond and his wife headed upstairs. Lucius disappeared a minute after his son and daughter-in-law and Severus also quickly left, leaving Voldemort and Bella alone.

"Yes, you can go to Order headquarters." Voldemort said suddenly, surprising Bella. "Don't look so surprised Bella, I know you too well."

Bella had been worried about having time to approach Voldemort with her request so she was pleased her lover had solved that problem for her. Bella knew she wouldn't have been able to speak about it at home as the Order were still watching them and they thought the bug was still in place. Despite making plans the Order were clearly going to keep spying on them to ensure that things were still on track with their supposed trip to Greece.

"Thank you." Bella smiled.

Voldemort nodded at Bella before holding onto her arm and apparating the pair of them home.


	21. Chapter 21

Hermione sat curled on the sofa in her bedroom ignoring the rippling of the wards around the Manor as the Death Eaters arrived. Voldemort's followers had been arriving all day in preparation for the night's events. It was finally Saturday night, the night the rebellion would hopefully be ended.

Hermione had taken the previous day off work and spent it in Italy with Scorpius and Narcissa. Despite knowing the Manor was safe Hermione had insisted on Narcissa taking Scorpius to Italy for the weekend. Pansy had also accepted Hermione and Draco's offer and she and Jasmine were also on the island in Italy. After making sure everyone was settled and safe Hermione reluctantly came home, where the final preparations were taking place.

"Voldemort and Bella should be arriving shortly." Draco announced as he entered the room.

Hermione didn't respond as she continued staring into space, lost in her thoughts. Draco sighed and moved to sit next to his wife.

"You can always go to Italy. No-one will force you to take part tonight." Draco said, hoping Hermione would take him up on the offer. He would prefer his wife to be away from any possible danger.

"No, I'm staying." Hermione insisted, re-focusing on the present time. "I'm not looking forward to it, but I'm not running away."

Draco nodded and pulled Hermione up off the sofa. After giving Hermione a quick kiss he moved towards the bed where two black robes were lying. Hermione looked at the Death Eater robes in distaste as Draco put his on.

"Do I have to wear it?" Hermione questioned, picking up the black material.

"Yes. It's actually a lot easier if everyone on your side is dressed the same. It narrows down the chances of accidently hurting one of your own." Draco said.

Hermione nodded, seeing the logic to everyone wearing black. "At least we're not wearing masks." She commented as she slipped the black robes on. Voldemort had made it clear that masks were optional to his inner circle, something Hermione was relieved about as she didn't fancy wearing one of the silver masks.

"That's a plus. I hate those things." Draco said. Fighting in the Death Eater masks was something Draco had always loathed.

Once they were both dressed Hermione and Draco made their way downstairs. Upon arriving downstairs Draco began to organise the Death Eaters while Hermione watched on awkwardly. She still felt uncomfortable around all of Voldemort's followers as she knew a large part of them resented her presence. Luckily Theo spotted Hermione and wandered over to talk to his friends wife. Hermione was pleased to see Theo and made sure to remain talking to him until Voldemort and Bella arrived.

The room went silent as Voldemort arrived and moved to the front of the room. "Tonight we end this rebellion. I assume everyone understands the plan tonight." Voldemort paused as everyone murmured an agreement. "Now all we have to do is wait."

* * *

Seamus, Terry and Cho sat in the Order headquarters nervously. Tonks and some of the others were busy making final preparations but the trio were keeping out of things. They all felt bad about what they were doing but knew that if they hadn't gone to Voldemort they wouldn't have survived the rebellion.

The Order were currently waiting for the surveillance team at Voldemort's house to let them know the house was empty. Once they got the word the entire group would apparate to the boundary line of Voldemort's house where Tonks would disable the wards. Once she had disabled the wards the group would apparate closer to Voldemort's house so they could get inside and begin the search for Horcrux's.

"It's time." Tonks called.

Nerves were rife as the Order began apparating to the boundary line. As soon as Tonks arrived she began working on the wards while the Order assembled behind her. Seamus, Terry and Cho all stuck together as they needed to be together in the house if they were all going to leave via the port key. Tonks worked for nearly half an hour before the final wards were dropped.

"We need to find the Horcrux's as soon as possible. If you find one send your patronus to notify everyone else. The minute we've found both the snake and cup we leave. Don't hang about for anything. The wards don't seem to be alarmed to notify Voldemort if they fall but we don't want to take any chances." Tonks addressed the group. "Ready?"

There was a murmur of agreement before everyone began to apparate to the front of Voldemort's house. Tonks led the way, breaking the lock and opening the front door. As the Order entered the house Tonks directed groups of people in different directions.

Seamus, Terry and Cho, along with several other people, went in the direction that Tonks had pointed out. Entering what looked to be a study Seamus shut the door firmly behind the trio.

"Are you ready?" He asked, pulling the coin from his pocket.

Terry and Cho nodded so Seamus sent a message to Draco. Terry and Cho moved closer to Seamus so they could all hold onto the coin. They had no idea how long it would take Draco to respond but they had already decided the safest thing to do was all hang onto the coin until it activated and turned into a port key.

The trio stood for nearly five minutes before shouts were heard around the house and the coin started to light up. The last thing Terry, Seamus and Cho saw before being spirited away by the port key was the study door being blasted open by a Death Eater.

Arriving in the kitchen at Grimmauld Place Seamus, Terry and Cho sank onto chairs. While they were relieved to be safe they couldn't help but wonder what was happening back at Voldemort's house.

"Finally you've arrived." A voice from the corner caused the trio to look round in shock. "Now you can tell me what I want to know." Bella said, emerging from the shadows and smirking at the shocked trio.

* * *

"They're in." Draco announced as the coin in his pocket started to burn.

"Draco, Hermione let's go." Voldemort said to the couple before he turned to address the room. "The moment I send word apparate into my house. Everyone must be either killed or captured."

As Voldemort prepared to leave with Hermione and Draco he gave Bella a subtle nod and the witch left the room so she could apparate to Grimmauld Place. The only person who noticed Bella's departure was Draco.

Draco had changed the wards of Grimmauld Place the previous day to allow his aunt access and he knew that she would be visiting the new headquarters. Draco wasn't sure it was the best idea to send his aunt to Order headquarters but Voldemort had already made the decision and Draco knew it would be pointless arguing with him.

Voldemort, Hermione and Draco apparated to the boundary line of Voldemort's house. Silently the couple began erecting anti-apparition wards around the building. Within minutes Draco informed Voldemort they were done. The Dark Lord nodded and summoned his Death Eaters using the Dark Mark on their left forearm.

Hermione and Draco both felt their own marks burning as they apparated into the house. They'd already decided it would be better if they fought separately so they didn't get distracted worrying about the other one. Draco apparated into the front room while Hermione apparated into a spare bedroom that Scorpius occasionally stayed in when he was visiting Bella.

While Draco arrived in a room that was occupied and was immediately thrust into fighting Hermione had landed in an empty room. Hermione left the spare bedroom as shouts and screams started echoing around the house, everyone else had arrived. Hermione noticed several Death Eaters had apparated onto the upper level of the house which was where she was.

Hermione could tell that most of the fighting was taking place downstairs but she still wanted to be sure no-one was hiding upstairs. Hermione warded the spare bedroom and set about investigating the other rooms. She had decided to ward any empty room so that no-one could re-enter and hide in the rooms that she had already searched.

As Hermione was warding the rooms she had searched she noticed that most of the Death Eaters had headed downstairs where the majority of the fighting was taking place. There was still a couple of Death Eaters on the top floor but as they couldn't find any action they began heading downstairs.

Hermione found no-one until she entered the last room which happened to be the main bedroom. Hermione paused in the doorway as she spotted Lavender Brown and the Patil twins searching the room. Lavender and Padma were both searching through drawers while Parvati was standing next to Nagini's empty basket, clearly looking about for the snake. Hermione knew they wouldn't find Nagini as the snake was currently at the Manor with Crookshanks.

Standing in the doorway Hermione wondered why the three women were still calmly searching the bedroom as though nothing was happening, either they hadn't heard the commotion or hadn't paid any attention. When she stepped into the room Hermione realised the room was actually soundproofed and that the women probably hadn't heard the commotion outside the bedroom.

Hermione quietly entered the room as the three women still hadn't seemed to notice her presence. Carrying her wand in one hand Hermione reached into her robes and pulled out a few pairs of enchanted handcuffs, the handcuffs would automatically transport anyone wearing them into a cell in Azkaban. While Hermione was willing to take part in the fight she was still unwilling to kill her old friends.

Hermione managed to get right behind Parvati before Lavender suddenly spotted her and shouted a warning to her friend. Luckily Hermione had time to slap the handcuffs on Parvati before Lavender managed to hit her with a curse. Hermione crashed against the wall but managed to keep her grip on her wand. Shakily Hermione managed to stun Lavender as she approached her. Hermione crawled to where Lavender was lying and snapped the handcuffs on her before she looked around the room in search of Padma.

Hermione knew that Padma hadn't left the room as she would have had to pass by her on the way. Hermione got to her feet, trying to ignore the massive headache she now had. Hermione quickly searched the room before her eyes fell on the closed bathroom door. Hermione headed for the door and found it locked. Quickly she unlocked the door and threw it open, her wand held in front of her in protection.

"Don't hurt me, Hermione." Padma pleaded as she sat crouched on the floor.

"I'm not going to hurt you." Hermione sighed, stepping forward and slapping a pair handcuffs on Padma.

After Padma disappeared to Azkaban, Hermione stood and contemplated what had just happened. She knew she was lucky to come out of a confrontation with three members of the Order with only a headache. Hermione also knew that the only reason she had come off so lightly was the fact she had managed to take them by surprise. If Lavender, Parvati and Padma had heard the commotion in the rest of the house there was no way Hermione would have been able to sneak up on them so easily.

Hermione tried to forgot what would have happened if she hadn't had surprise on her side and set about warding the bedroom. Hermione was heading for the stairs when Molly Weasley suddenly came running around the corner and crashed into her. Hermione and Molly went sprawling on the floor and as she fell Hermione heard a loud cracking noise and felt immense pain in her right ankle.

Molly quickly regained her footing and scrambled up, grabbing Hermione's wand as she went. Hermione was in too much pain to recognise that she had lost her wand, instead she was looking at her ankle that she thought was broken.

"It looks like it's payback time." Molly cackled, looking down at Hermione who was still lying on the floor.

Hermione suddenly realised that Molly was standing over her and she began searching for her wand that she had dropped when she fell. Molly laughed as she realised what Hermione was doing.

"Looking for this." She taunted, twirling Hermione's wand in her hands.

Hermione looked at her wand in Molly's hand. Realising she was trapped Hermione tried to stand up only to fall back down on the ground screaming in agony. Molly merely smirked, knowing she had Hermione at her mercy.

"Goodbye Hermione." Molly raised her wand. "Avada…"

Hermione shut her eyes as she waited for Molly to kill her, all she could think about was the fact she would be leaving Draco and Scorpius. Hermione opened her eyes when she realised that Molly had stopped mid-sentence. Hermione looked on in amazement as Molly lay dead in front of her. Looking up she found Lucius standing with his wand pointing towards where Molly had been standing.

"Lucius." Hermione gasped, never more happy to see her father-in-law.

"Are you okay? What happened?" Lucius asked, rushing to Hermione's side.

"I think I've broken my ankle." Hermione said, wincing at the pain.

"Can you apparate?" Lucius asked.

"No, I'm in too much pain. I'll end up splinching myself." Hermione said. "Besides I'm not leaving until I know Draco's safe."

"Draco's fine. I saw him a minute ago." Lucius said. "Most of the Order has been defeated, there's only a few left now."

"Good. Can you help me downstairs?" Hermione asked, trying to reach for her wand.

Lucius snatched up Hermione's wand before his daughter-in-law managed to get a firm grip on the piece of wood. "No, I'm taking you home."

Hermione tried to protest but Lucius ignored her as he lifted her into his arms and apparated her back to the Manor. Lucius apparated into the front room and placed Hermione onto the sofa. Calling a house elf he immediately began issuing orders about Hermione's wellbeing.

"I'm heading back. I'll make sure nothing happens to Draco." Lucius said as a team of house elves began to make Hermione comfortable.

"Thank you." Hermione said. She knew she was thanking Lucius for saving her life and for protecting Draco.

Lucius nodded at Hermione and offered her a small smile, understanding the double meaning. With one final check that Hermione was being taken care of Lucius apparated back to Voldemort's house.

* * *

Draco was in the middle of a battle with one of the Weasley twins when his father suddenly appeared next to him and joined in the fight. Draco was surprised but also grateful for the help. He had been fighting non-stop since he entered Voldemort's house and it was getting tiring trying to subdue people enough to place them in handcuffs.

Draco had decided that he wasn't going to kill anyone so he had spent the entire battle trying to capture as many people as possible. Draco had witnessed several members of the Order being killed but he had also managed to imprison a few before they were killed.

Draco and Lucius fought in perfect tandem against the few remaining Order members. They quickly managed to knock out the Weasley twin and Draco managed to snap the cuffs on him. Draco wasn't sure which twin was which but he knew he had captured both of them now, the first twin had been the first person he had fought against that night.

"Have you seen Hermione?" Draco asked, not pausing the fighting he was engaging in.

"Yes, she's fine." Lucius said as he blasted Kingsley Shackelbolt against the far wall.

Lucius decided it was better to refrain from telling Draco that Hermione was injured and at home. His son would only worry about his wife and he might lose his concentration and end up getting hurt.

Draco and Lucius continued to fight and subdue Order members until a loud crashing noise got their attention. Both men turned their heads in time to see a dark blur flying through the front window, glass shattering around them. Draco spotted Tonks running after whoever had gone through the window. Draco and Lucius shared a knowing look, chances are it was The Dark lord who had been thrown through his window.

The few remaining Order members seemed to come to the same conclusion as their fighting was suddenly much more spirited. As Lucius and Draco returned to the fight several more Death Eaters appeared and the Order suddenly found themselves massively outnumbered. With plenty of Death Eaters to take care of the remaining Order members Draco and Lucius slipped away from the fight to check on Voldemort.

Arriving in the front yard it was clear to Draco and Lucius that despite being thrown through the window Voldemort had gotten the upper hand in his battle with Tonks. He was currently throwing numerous curses at the witch and she was struggling to fight back. Tonks suddenly seemed to rally as she began advancing on Voldemort and driving him back towards a tree. As Voldemort was pressed back against the tree trunk Draco was about to intervene when Voldemort suddenly apparated away. He reappeared behind Tonks and threw the killing curse at her before she had time to react to his sly tactics.

With Tonks lying dead on the front lawn Voldemort turned to Draco and Lucius. "Come on, let's finish this."

Together the three men headed back inside the house to finish dispatching the remaining members of the Order. It took less than half an hour to end the resistance and secure victory for Voldemort and his followers.


	22. Chapter 22

After leaving the Manor, Bella apparated to Grimmauld Place where she settled down to wait for the three Order members who had chosen to save themselves. Less than five minutes later there was a flash and the port key arrived, delivering three worried looking people. Bella watched them sink into chairs before she made her presence known.

"Finally you've arrived." Bella said, causing the trio of Order members to whirl around and face the dark corner she was standing in. "Now you can tell me what I want to know."

Bella emerged from the corner smirking. She was pleased to note the trio seemed surprised to see her. Quickly they stood up and banded together, Terry and Seamus standing slightly in front of Cho.

"What do you want?" Seamus asked. "We weren't informed you'd be here."

"I want the address of the Order headquarters." Bella said.

"No. We won't tell you that." Terry said shakily. He was terrified of the witch standing in front of him but wasn't prepared to show it.

"Yes, you will." Bella smiled. "Whatever happens I'm leaving here with that address. You can either give it to me now and save yourselves a lot of pain or you can try and defy me and deal with the consequences."

Seamus, Terry and Cho looked at each other nervously. They all knew what Bellatrix was capable of and they didn't want to end up on the end of a Cruciatius curse from the mad woman.

"We'll tell you the address." Seamus sighed. "Just promise you won't hurt Teddy."

"I don't have to promise you anything." Bella said darkly. "Are you going to give me the address."

Seamus gave Bella the address of the new headquarters, hoping she wasn't evil enough to kill a young boy. After getting an address and a visual picture of the property Bella turned to leave the kitchen. She knew the wards would prevent the trio from leaving until Draco dropped them later that night.

"I have no intention of hurting the boy." She called as she dissapparated with a crack.

Seamus, Terry and Cho could only look at each other and hope that Bellatrix meant what she said and that Teddy came to no harm.

* * *

Bella arrived on the outskirts of the Order's property, a large house in Wales. Bella cast an anti-apparition ward around the building before she began to break the wards. Unlike Draco and Hermione who broke wards stealthily and could often break through without detection Bella preferred a more direct approach and just battered at the wards until they crumbled.

Bella knew that Andromeda would know there was someone entering the property. She grinned at the panic her sister would go into when she also realised she was trapped in the building and couldn't apparate to safety.

Breaking the wards Bella walked up to the front door and blasted it off its hinges. "Andromeda." Bella deliberately called out, making sure her sister knew exactly who was coming for her.

Bella entered the house and began blasting at the furnishings, making sure to destroy everything in sight. Bella was pretty sure her sister would be hiding upstairs and she was hoping to draw her out. Whatever happened with her sister Bella was determined that Teddy wouldn't witness anything and she wanted to make sure he wasn't hurt accidentally.

Bella continued destroying the house for nearly fifteen minutes before she heard soft footsteps on the stairs. Heading into the hallway Bella grinned at the sight of her sister creeping down the stairs, a wand clutched tightly in her hand.

"What do you want, Bella?" Andromeda asked, stopping halfway down the stairs and glaring at her elder sister.

"It's over, Andromeda." Bella grinned up at her sister. "The Order have fallen."

"No." Andromeda whispered. She knew the presence of her sister didn't bode well for the others but she refused to believe that all hope was lost.

"Think about it. Why else would I be here if something hadn't gone wrong?" Bella questioned, sensing her sister was realising that their plan had failed. "No-one's coming back, there's just you left."

"Do you just expect me to come quietly?" Andromeda scoffed, trying to think of an escape plan.

"I'm really not bothered." Bella shrugged. "If it's a fight you want then I'm all for that."

Andromeda looked worried, she knew there was no way she would survive a fight with her sister. Even as children Bella had been more adept at fighting and knew exactly how to hurt her opponent.

"I don't want to fight." Andromeda said, walking the rest of the way down the stairs. "But I will if I have to."

Andromeda caught Bella off-guard with her first comment so was able to throw a stinging curse at her sister as soon as she stepped off the final stair. Bella hissed in pain and threw a slurry of curses towards Andromeda. Because she was slightly off balance the curses sailed by Andromeda harmlessly. Andromeda threw another stinging curse at Bella but her sister had already regained her posture and deftly blocked the attack.

As Bella and Andromeda began hurling curses and hexes at each other Bella knew she had the advantage. Despite the bad feelings between the siblings Bella knew that Andromeda didn't have it in her to kill, instead she would be aiming to knock Bella out and escape. Knocking Bella out was exactly what Andromeda was trying to do, unfortunately her sister was a skilled fighter and was very hard to actually hit with a curse.

As the fight wore on Bella was shocked by her sister's skill. After Andromeda had spent the last few years in Azkaban Bella had expected to defeat her quickly but she was having to work hard to keep her sister on the back foot. For nearly fifteen minutes the battle raged around the destroyed ground floor of the headquarters, each sister having the advantage at various stages but quickly losing it before they could pounce.

Eventually the toll of battling someone as skilled and determined as Bella began to show for Andromeda. She missing a blocking spell and found her arm being sliced open. The shock was enough to cause her to stumble and Bella pounced, stunning her sister.

Bella walked over to a stunned Andromeda and looked down at her sister. During the previous war she wouldn't have thought twice about killing her sister but after years of finally having a normal life with the man she loved her bloodlust had abated. Bella removed a pair of enchanted handcuffs from her robes and clapped them onto her sister's wrists, causing Andromeda to disappear.

Bella picked her way through the destroyed house and made her way up the stairs. She could hear quiet sobs and followed the noises to a warded room near the back of the house. Bella didn't want to upset Teddy any more so she went about breaking the wards as quickly and quietly as possible.

Once the wards were down Bella entered the bedroom and looked around for Teddy. She noticed the covers on the bed were in a heap and shaking slightly. Carefully she walked over to the bed and peeled back the covers to find a frightened looking boy.

"It's alright, Teddy." Bella said softly, gently stroking the boy's head. Before Hermione and Draco had had Scorpius Bella wouldn't have considered herself child friendly but now she was more comfortable around children.

Teddy looked at Bella with wide eyes, wary of the strange woman in front of him. Bella sensed Teddy's nervousness and smiled at him. While Bella was gently stroking Teddy's hair she carefully manoeuvred her wand hand so the wooden stick was pointing at the young boy. Keeping Teddy distracted Bella cast a sleeping spell on the boy, causing him to flop down on the bed.

Bella stuck her wand back into her robes and gathered Teddy in her arms. "Don't worry, I'll look after you." She whispered to the sleeping boy before apparating back to the Manor.

* * *

Arriving back at the Manor Bella was surprised to find Hermione lying on the sofa with her right ankle heavily bandaged.

"What happened?" Bella asked, gently placing a sleeping Teddy on the smaller sofa.

"Broken ankle. Is that Teddy?" Hermione asked.

"Yes." Bella replied, fussing over Teddy and making sure he was comfortable.

"What happened with Andromeda?" Hermione asked, not really sure if she wanted details of how Bella killed her own sister.

"She's in Azkaban." Bella said, surprising Hermione.

Bella then told Hermione everything that had happened at Order headquarters while Hermione filled Bella in on events at her house. After speaking for nearly ten minutes the two women lapsed into silence, each wondering about what was happening with Voldemort and Draco.

"I wonder what'll happen to Teddy." Hermione sighed after a long silence. She'd come close to dying tonight and almost left Scorpius without a mother so she felt incredibly sorry for the small boy who was asleep on the sofa opposite her.

"I want to raise him." Bella said quietly. The idea had only just presented itself to her but she knew that it was what she wanted to do.

"Really?" Hermione was totally shocked. While Bella was great with Scorpius Hermione had never expected her to want to raise a child full time.

"Yes. He's got no-one else. I know you and Draco could probably take him in but you've got your own family, which I'm sure you plan on adding to." Bella said.

"What about Voldemort? What will he think of raising someone else's child?" Hermione wondered if Bella had even considered Voldemort would surely have an opinion on the matter.

"I'm hoping I can convince him it's the right thing to do." Bella said. "But if I can't then I'll just have to raise him alone."

Hermione stared at Bella, suddenly realising how serious she was about raising Teddy. Hermione knew how much Voldemort meant to Bella and all that she had gone through so they could be together. If she was willing to walk away from him to raise Teddy then it must be something she was desperate to do.

"I hope everything works out how you want, Bella." Hermione said.

"So do I." Bella said softly as she looked at a sleeping Teddy.

Once again silence lapsed between the two women as they worried about the fight taking place at Voldemort's house. The silence only lasted a few minutes before they heard the pop of apparition in the hallway and moments later Draco rushed into the room.

"Hermione are you alright?" Draco rushed to Hermione's side paying no attention to his aunt as he passed by her.

"I'm fine, thanks to Lucius." Hermione reassured her husband.

"What happened? Father only told me he brought you home because you were injured." Draco anxiously scanned Hermione's body wondering if there was any other injuries to go with her heavily strapped ankle.

"It doesn't matter right now, I'll tell you later." Hermione brushed off Draco's concern as she was anxious about everyone else. "What happened? Is everyone safe?"

"We've won." Draco said. "Now we need to make sure everyone is accounted for."

"Shouldn't you be getting back then?" Hermione asked.

"Yes. Voldemort allowed me to come and make sure you were all right." As he was speaking Draco turned to face his aunt. "He also wants you at the house."

Bella looked down at Teddy nervously, she hadn't planned on leaving him but she knew better than to disobey Voldemort.

Hermione noticed Bella's hesitation so she offered a solution. "Why don't you leave Teddy with me. You can pick him up later."

Bella smiled at Hermione, she knew the witch was offering her a chance to speak with Voldemort about Teddy. Draco looked confused at the conversation between his wife and aunt but he didn't have time to question it.

"Do you want me to help you upstairs?" Draco asked Hermione figuring she would be more comfortable in their room as he had no idea how long it would be before he returned home.

"Yes. Bella you can bring Teddy and he can sleep upstairs." Hermione said, trying to sit up and wincing at the pain in her ankle. Despite the house elves fixing the bones her ankle was still sore and it would need to be rested for a few days.

Spotting Hermione was in pain Draco scooped her up in his arms and apparated them upstairs into their bedroom. Draco put Hermione down on the bed before heading into the bathroom to find a pain potion for his wife.

When he returned to the bedroom Bella was settling Teddy down on the bed beside Hermione. Draco watched as Hermione reassured Bella the boy would be alright before he aunt apparated away.

"What's going on with aunt Bella?" Draco asked, walking towards the bed. "Why is she fussing over Teddy?"

"I'll tell you later." Hermione replied, taking the pain potion off Draco and swallowing it.

"You've got a lot to tell me later." Draco said, noticing it was the second time he wife had skirted around answering his question.

"We haven't exactly got time for a discussion now, Draco." Hermione said. "Once you've finished with Voldemort and Bella had returned for Teddy we can talk about what's happened tonight."

Draco nodded, knowing what Hermione was saying made sense. He had already been gone longer than Voldemort would have liked so Draco knew he couldn't stay much longer.

"I'll be back as soon as I can." Draco said, giving his wife a quick kiss.

With one final look at Hermione Draco apparated back to Voldemort's house hoping to get things dealt with quickly and return to his wife.


	23. Chapter 23

Hermione put down her book and wondered for the hundredth time where Draco was. Bella had returned for Teddy nearly half an hour ago and according to her Draco was nearly finished with Voldemort.

Bella had also explained that her and Voldemort would be staying in the Manor until they either found a new house or repaired all the damage to their current one. When Hermione had asked about Teddy, Bella had said they were still discussing the matter but she was hopeful that Voldemort would come round.

Thinking about Teddy made Hermione miss Scorpius even more. She wondered if she could persuade Draco to go and get their son tonight. After coming so close to leaving him and Draco Hermione wanted nothing more than to have her family with her.

Hermione decided to distract herself from Draco and Scorpius' absence by writing a note to Harry. Hermione didn't know where Harry was but she knew an owl could find him. Hermione had no idea whether Harry would risk returning home but she felt he ought to know that the rebellion had been ended. Summoning a piece of parchment and a quill Hermione wrote a small letter to Harry. Sealing it up she placed the letter on the nightstand so that she could give it to Draco later and ask him to send it to Harry.

Hermione was just wondering what to do next to pass the time when the door opened and Draco walked into the bedroom. Draco immediately removed his black robes before he moved to sit on the bed next to Hermione.

"How's your ankle?" Draco asked.

"Sore." Hermione replied. "Is everything sorted now?"

"Yeah. The entire Order is accounted for." Draco said. "The rebellion is officially over."

"How many died?" Hermione asked, wondering if there were many other casualties apart from Molly.

"We lost five people and the Order lost a dozen or so." Draco replied.

"Who?" Hermione wondered if she knew everyone who had died over the course of the night.

"Both of the Carrow's and Crabbe." Draco said, naming the three Death Eaters Hermione knew, he was fairly confident she hadn't met the other two who had died.

"I'm sorry about Crabbe." Hermione said, knowing Draco had been friends with him since they started school. "What about the Order?"

"I'm not sure on everyone." Draco admitted. He had been checking on some of the Order in Azkaban so he didn't know exactly who had perished. "I do know Tonks was killed by Voldemort. Hannah and Oliver were also killed as were Professor Flitwick and Madam Pomfrey. And of course Molly Weasley."

The way Draco mentioned Molly made Hermione realise that he knew what had happened with the older witch. "Lucius told you."

"Yes. He explained that him and Amycus were fighting with her and a few others, she killed Amycus and ran. Father said he took off after her and found her about to kill you." Draco said, trying to ignore the fact his wife had come so close to death.

Hermione shivered as she remembered the feeling of terror as Molly stood over her with her wand pointing at her. "I was so scared." She whispered. "All I could think about was the fact I would be leaving you and Scorpius alone."

As Hermione's tears started to fall Draco wrapped his arm around his wife and pulled her closer to him. For nearly ten minutes Draco sat hugging Hermione and whispering reassuring words of comfort to her. Eventually Hermione stopped crying and lifted her head slightly.

"Do you know what happened to the twins?" Hermione asked. "Charlie would want to know."

"They're both in Azkaban." Draco said.

"At least they're not dead." Hermione sighed, sad that the twins would spend the rest of their lives in Azkaban.

"True." Draco nodded.

"Have you seen Seamus, Terry and Cho?" Hermione asked, wondering if Draco would have had time to visit Grimmauld Place.

"Yes. I went and dropped the wards for them before I came home." Draco said. "I think they planned on staying there tonight while they decided what they were going to do next."

"Speaking of planning on what to do next, there's a couple of things I want you to do for me." Hermione said.

"What?" Draco asked, wondering what Hermione could possibly want him to do.

"First I want you to send this letter." Hermione said, reaching for the letter she had wrote to Harry.

"You're writing to Potter?" Draco asked as Hermione handed him the envelope.

"Yes, he deserves to know what happened." Hermione explained. "I don't expect to hear from him again but at least this way he'll know the rebellion is over."

"Okay." Draco was sceptical of Hermione writing to Harry but he would do as his wife wanted and send the letter. "What was the other thing you wanted me to do?"

"I want you to go and get Scorpius. I'm sure Theo wants Pansy and Jasmine back home and I think your father would appreciate having Narcissa home as well."

"I was already planning on going to Italy tonight." Draco admitted. "I'll send your letter first and drop in on Theo and tell him the plan before I go."

Draco stood up and after checking Hermione didn't need anything he went off to send Hermione's letter before he went to Italy to bring their son home.

* * *

After sending Hermione's letter and briefly visiting Theo, Draco apparated to Italy. Draco arrived just outside the villa so he quickly headed inside. He knew he didn't have to worry about frightening his mother and Pansy as they knew the only two people who could apparate onto the island were him and Hermione. Entering the front room of the villa Draco found his mother and Pansy sitting talking on the sofa.

"Draco." Narcissa immediately stood up and embraced her son. "Is it over? Is everyone alright?"

"Everything's fine." Draco reassured his mother as he slipped away from her firm grip. "It's all over and we're all safe."

Draco made sure to include Pansy in his reassurance so she knew that Theo was alright as well.

"Can we go home now?" Pansy asked.

Draco nodded and Pansy rushed out of the room to get Jasmine, who had been asleep in the spare room. Narcissa began to gather the few things her and Scorpius had brought with them while Draco went to retrieve his son. Draco found Scorpius fast asleep in the main bedroom. Carefully he picked his sleeping son up and headed back to the front room where he found Pansy anxiously waiting for his return.

"I've connected the floo network to your house, Pans." Draco told his friend. "You can go home."

"Thanks, Draco." Pansy smiled before leading Jasmine into the flames and flooing home.

"The network's also connected to mine and Hermione's room in the Manor." Draco told his mother. "You go first and Scorpius and I will follow."

Narcissa stepped into the green flames and flooed home, Draco following directly behind her. When he stepped out of the flames in his own bedroom Draco saw his mother had rushed to check on Hermione while his father was sitting beside Hermione.

Hermione reassured Narcissa she was fine and when her mother-in-law's attention turned to Lucius, Hermione turned her attention to her husband and son. Draco walked over to the bed and handed Hermione a sleeping Scorpius while he sat down next to her.

Draco and Hermione sat quietly with their son as Lucius explained to Narcissa what had happened. Hermione was interested to hear about what had happened downstairs at Voldemort's house as she had been upstairs for the entire time. Hermione wasn't surprised to hear the Order had tried to apparate out of the house when the Death Eaters arrived en-masse. Lucius also told Narcissa about Bella and Voldemort staying with them for a while.

"Does anyone know why Bella has a little boy with her?" Lucius asked. Speaking about Bella had reminded him of the boy she had been so concerned about.

"It's Teddy Lupin." Hermione explained. "She says she wants to raise him."

"Bella never wanted children. Are you sure that was what she meant?" Narcissa questioned, trying to imagine her sister wanting to raise a child that wasn't hers.

Hermione nodded and explained the conversation she had had with Bella upon her return to the Manor. Everyone looked shocked when Hermione mentioned that Bella had even threatened to raise Teddy alone if Voldemort was going to be difficult.

"She's serious." Narcissa exclaimed after Hermione had re-counted the conversation to the room.

"Yes." Hermione agreed. "She's determined to make sure Teddy has a good life."

"What are they going to tell him?" Draco asked. "Surely he's old enough to know who his mother is."

"I don't know." Hermione shrugged. Bella had never explained what she planned on telling Teddy about suddenly living with strangers.

"I suppose that'll depend on what The Dark Lord says." Lucius said.

"When Bella came to pick Teddy up she seemed confident that Voldemort would agree to raising Teddy." Hermione said.

"Well if anyone can convince him it's aunt Bella." Draco said.

"True. She does like to get her own way." Lucius said earning himself a glare from his wife.

"I think it's time we were off." Narcissa said, pulling her husband up off his chair.

Narcissa and Lucius said their goodbyes and left Draco and Hermione alone with Scorpius.

"We should put him to bed, he's already fast asleep." Draco said, looking at his son asleep in Hermione's arms.

"In a while." Hermione said, reluctant to part with her son. "He's alright here for a bit."

Draco decided not to argue with his wife, instead he settled down next to Hermione on the bed.

* * *

After a couple of hours Draco finally convinced Hermione to let him put Scorpius to bed in his own room. While Draco was settling Scorpius in the nursery Hermione managed to hobble into the bathroom.

Draco returned to the bedroom just as Hermione was exiting the bathroom. "What are you doing up? You should have waited for me to return." He exclaimed, rushing over to Hermione and helping her back to the bed.

"I'm not an invalid. I can hobble to the bathroom." Hermione said.

"You shouldn't be walking on your ankle. The bones may have been fixed but they could re-break really easily and a second break is harder to heal and takes longer to recover from." Draco said.

"You're making that up." Hermione said.

"I'm not." Draco shook his head and sat down on the edge of the bed next to Hermione. "When I was seven I broke my ankle. Mother fixed the bones but told me I had to rest for a few days."

"Let's guess, you didn't like being told what to do and paid no attention to what Narcissa told you." Hermione knew Draco well enough to know he disliked being told what to do and would usually do the opposite just to be annoying.

"Exactly." Draco nodded. "I didn't want to rest so I went outside to play. I ended up falling over and re-breaking my ankle. I then spent the next two weeks confined to bed."

"Fine, I'll not walk unless it's strictly necessary." Hermione said, laughing at Draco's story. She could just imagine how put out he would have been having to spend several days confined to bed.

"Good." Draco said. "Now how about we start getting our lives back to normal."

"How do you suggest we do that?" Hermione smiled, having a good idea where Draco was going with his line of thought.

"Well we were talking about extending the family." Draco said, smiling at Hermione.

"And you figured we could get started with that." Hermione laughed.

"You read my mind." Draco muttered, leaning in and kissing Hermione.

Hermione wrapped her arms around Draco's neck and eagerly responded to her husband's actions. After several minutes of heavy kissing the couple settled back onto the large bed, pleased their lives could begin to return to normal.


	24. Epilogue

**A/N - Thank you to everyone who has supported this story. I would also like to thank my little block of faithful reviewers who constantly reviewed this story. Hopefully the epilogue wraps up any loose ends. Enjoy!**

* * *

**Eight Years Later.**

The Great Hall fell silent as the doors opened and Hermione led the nervous group of first years down to the front of the hall. Leaving the small students in a cluster at the front of the hall Hermione moved to where the sorting hat was sitting on its stool. Picking up the scroll with the first years names on she read out the first name.

Three students had been sorted before Hermione spotted the name of a child she knew well. "Teddy Black."

Teddy nervously made his way to the stool and sat down. Hermione gave him a reassuring smile before she placed the hat on his head. The hat seemed to deliberate for a while and Hermione shot a nervous look at Severus. Severus smiled back reassuringly, he had made sure the hat wouldn't reveal Teddy's true parentage to the boy. Hermione focused back on Teddy waiting for a house.

"Gryffindor!" The hat suddenly shouted.

Hermione smiled widely and lifted the hat off Teddy's head. Teddy himself looked uncertain of the hat's choice. Teddy nervously looked at Hermione before taking off to sit at the Gryffindor table. Hermione carried on the sorting ceremony, keeping an eye on Teddy. She decided to try and get him alone after dinner to speak to him and reassure him. Hermione was sure that he was worried about being in Gryffindor when his entire family were Slytherins.

"Jasmine Nott." Hermione smiled softly when she came to the other student she already knew. She had known Jasmine since birth and was godmother to her younger brother, Kane.

Jasmine bounded up to the front, her long black hair bouncing in her ponytail. Hermione placed the hat on her head and within minutes its verdict was being declared.

"Slytherin!"

Jasmine beamed happily and rushed off to her new house table. Hermione concluded the sorting and took her seat next to Severus as he stood up to address the school. Severus start of term announcement only took a few minutes and he was quickly sat back down next to Hermione.

"I've decided that's the last start of year announcement I'll deliver. I think it's finally time to retire." Severus said quietly to Hermione.

"You've been saying that for the last three years." Hermione laughed. "Admit it, you love your job."

Severus murmured something that may have been an agreement before he turned to address the Professor on his other side. Hermione spoke briefly to the Professor on her other side before she let her eyes scan the crowded hall looking for Jasmine and Teddy.

Jasmine was already looking settled as she sat talking with three other first years. Teddy still looked slightly nervous but he was managing to have a conversation with the boy sitting beside him. Hermione spent most of the feast watching Teddy and noticing how he relaxed more as the night wore on.

At the end of the feast Hermione debated whether to speak to Teddy now or wait until the morning. When Teddy turned and looked at her uncertainly, Hermione made her way to the Gryffindor table.

"Teddy do you want to come with me and I can take you to Gryffindor Tower later." Hermione said.

Teddy eagerly agreed and said goodbye to his new friend before following Hermione out of the hall. Hermione went out the front doors and sat on the wall just outside the entrance. Teddy followed and sat down next to Hermione.

"Are you worried about being in Gryffindor?" Hermione asked.

Teddy nodded slowly. "Everyone else is in Slytherin. What if they hate me?" He said quietly.

"No-one will hate you, Teddy." Hermione reassured the boy. "Everyone loves you. What house you're in doesn't matter."

"Even to mum and dad?" Teddy asked, referring to Bella and Voldemort.

Voldemort had agreed to help Bella raise Teddy and ever since the end of the rebellion they had acted like parents to the boy. Voldemort had removed his early memories so Teddy had grown up thinking of Bella and Voldemort as his parents. Bella hadn't wanted to remove Teddy's memories originally but Voldemort convinced her that it would be easier for Teddy to adjust if he had no memories of his past life.

"Even to them. I promise you that they love you and are very proud of you." Hermione said.

Teddy and Hermione sat for a bit longer discussing their family before Hermione decided it was time to take Teddy to Gryffindor Tower.

"I'm pleased you're in Gryffindor." Hermione said as they walked towards Gryffindor Tower. "I'm tired of being the only Gryffindor in a family of Slytherins, it'll be nice to have some company."

"I'm sure we'll have company one day." Teddy said, pleased he had Hermione to speak to whenever he wanted. "Phoenix wants to be a Gryffindor."

Hermione smiled at the mention of her youngest son. Phoenix was only three and a half but he was a total mummy's boy and wanted to be just like Hermione. Hermione thought out of her three children that Phoenix was the most likely to be in Gryffindor. Scorpius was a pure Slytherin already and would no doubt follow in the rest of the family's footsteps regarding his house. Her daughter Electra, who was seven, could go either way or could even be a Ravenclaw. Electra was a perfect mix of her parents and as such was very clever and would be well suited in Ravenclaw.

Hermione dropped Teddy off at Gryffindor Tower and headed back down to her office in the dungeons. Despite it only being the first day back at school Hermione was keen to return home so she could see her family. She also wanted to talk with Bella to make sure the witch reassured Teddy that his house doesn't affect how she feels about him. Hermione entered her office and headed straight to the fireplace, steeping into the flames and returning home.

* * *

By the time Hermione returned to the Manor, dinner was over but luckily Bella and Voldemort were still present. The way Bella pounced on Hermione the moment she exited the fire made Hermione think that Bella had been waiting for her to return.

"He's in Gryffindor." Hermione answered Bella's questions regarding her son.

"I told you." Bella crowed to Voldemort. "My boy's as brave as they come."

Hermione smiled at Bella's attitude, obviously Teddy had been worrying unnecessarily about her reaction. Hermione also noted how proud Bella sounded at Teddy being sorted into Gryffindor. There was no doubt that Bella loved Teddy very much. Hermione knew that Bella had been worried that someone would tell Teddy the truth about his parents and what had happened to them but Voldemort reassured her that no-one but the family would ever know who Teddy really was.

"I'll have to go and write to him to make sure he gets the letter tomorrow." Bella said, heading towards the fireplace.

Voldemort stood from his seat and after saying goodbye left with Bella.

Hermione sat down next to Draco and the couple spent a while with Draco's parents before they headed upstairs to their own wing. Hermione and Draco had talked about moving out of the Manor when Hermione was pregnant the second time but once again decided they loved the house too much to leave. The children also loved the large property and it's impressive gardens.

"What did you do today?" Hermione asked her husband as they walked upstairs.

"After dropping Scorpius and Electra off at school I took Phoenix to Charlie's dragon sanctuary." Draco said. Scorpius and Electra both attended a muggle school as Hermione wanted them to have a solid education before they started Hogwarts.

"Did he like the dragons?" Hermione asked. Scorpius had always loved the animals but Phoenix was more reserved and Hermione was worried the big beasts might have scared him.

"He wasn't that bothered." Draco shrugged. "He did however love the twins."

Draco was referring to Charlie and Luna's one year old twins. The couple had gotten married five years ago and now had twin girls, Atlanta and Gypsy.

When they reached their wing Draco headed towards their bedroom while Hermione decided to check on their children. Phoenix was already fast asleep so Hermione merely tiptoed into his room and made sure he was snugly tucked up in bed. Scorpius was sitting on his bed reading but spoke with Hermione briefly before she left her son to get back to his book. Electra was just emerging from her bathroom when Hermione entered her room.

Hermione stayed and spoke with her daughter as she settled into bed. Hermione had discovered she was pregnant with Electra a few weeks after the rebellion and had been shocked to discover she had been pregnant at the time of the final fight. Hermione had spent a long time thinking about how much she could have lost if Molly had killed her or seriously hurt her.

After saying goodnight to Electra, Hermione headed towards her own bedroom. Draco was already lounging on the bed reading when Hermione entered the large room. Hermione quickly got ready for bed and joined her husband.

"There's a letter on the bedside table for you." Draco said, without looking up from his book.

Hermione reached for the letter, smiling when she noticed Harry's handwriting. Since writing to inform Harry of the end of the rebellion they had exchanged several letters. Harry had never revealed where he was living but he settled down and got married a few years after the rebellion. Hermione and Harry kept each other informed of the main events in their personal lives but were both unwilling to discuss anything regarding the wizarding world. Hermione read Harry's letter which was just keeping her up to date with his family, he now had two boys and he loved to brag about them.

"Did he have anything interesting to say?" Draco asked. He was the only person who knew that Hermione was still in touch with Harry.

"Just the usual, nothing special." Hermione said, putting the letter in the top drawer of her bedside table.

Draco had put down his book while Hermione was reading her letter and had spent the last few minutes waiting for his wife to finish. As soon as Hermione had put her letter away Draco pulled his wife to him and kissed her deeply. Hermione eagerly responded and within a few minutes was pinned under Draco's solid form.

"What was that for?" Hermione asked, slightly breathless from the kiss.

"Do I need a reason to kiss my wife?" Draco questioned, leaning down and re-connecting his lips with Hermione's.

Hermione didn't get a chance to respond as she emerged herself in the feeling of being kissed by her husband. As Draco started to remove her flimsy nightwear Hermione reached out for her wand. While the room had a silencing spell built in the door need locking so no-one could walk in on them. Hermione briefly pushed Draco off her as she locked the door.

Turning back to her husband Hermione smiled and flung her arms around his neck, bringing their half-naked bodies into contact. Despite being together since school Hermione and Draco still couldn't get enough of each other and had a very active sex life.

Hermione often wondered if the years they had spent being separated and everything they had had to endure to be together had made them stronger. Hermione also wondered if their relationship would have survived in a world where Voldemort was defeated, not that she liked to think of that result as she was quite fond of the dark wizard. The dark side had gladly adopted Hermione and ensured her a life with Draco and for that Hermione would always be grateful.

**The End.**


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